War! Watch UFC 267 highlights of Petr Yan’s thrilling win over Cody Sandhagen

We now have an interim bantamweight champion as UFC 267 was the place where the #1 rated, Petr Yan, defeated a sporty Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision. Sandhagen got to work right away in the opening round with his volume, while using his footwork to avoid the former champ’s power. Things changed up in the second round, though, when Yan started to let his strikes go. We got a spinning backfist from Yan that was partially blocked, and he even blocked one of those dangerous jump knees from Sandhagen.

The third round was when things really heated up. Yan landed a spinning backfist to left hook that dropped Sandhagen, and racked up some angry ground and pound to boot. Things didn’t get much better for Cory in the fourth frame, as the former champ continued to apply pressure. Sandhagen settled back in for the last round, and at no point was he back in control, but he was willing to brawl it out down the stretch and made it a fight.

Check out Tim Burke’s play-by-play of the third round of Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen:

Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen, Round 3

Sandhagen is moving well. He’s ducking inside and landing leg kicks. He’s controlling early. Yan is trying to fire back but he’s off balance. Nice combo from Yan there though! He has a head kick blocked. Yan with a left, then a right, but Sandhagen touches him back. YAN DROPS SANDHAGEN OFF A SPINNING BACKFIST AND A LEFT! He’s smashing him with GnP! Sandhagen able to scramble away, but Yan takes his back. He’s looking for a choke but Sandhagen wrolls through and they’re wrestling. Back up. Yan with another big left! Left and another. Horn. 10-9 Yan.

Petr Yan defeated Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)