Mario Bautista scored a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen on the main card of UFC 329, then immediately turned his attention toward the top of the bantamweight division.
The bout took place at T-Mobile Arena and marked a significant moment in Bautista’s run, as he avenged his UFC debut loss to Sandhagen. The victory also gave Bautista back-to-back wins following a defeat to Umar Nurmagomedov in October, and he now owns a 10-1 record in his past 11 fights.
After the fight, Bautista made it clear he’s eyeing the division’s elite. "I'm not too sure who's (next). I know there's some fights that are going to happen here pretty soon, so we'll see how everything gets shaken up," Bautista said, before adding, "Hopefully I can fight for the belt or the No. 1 contender, at the very least, and we'll see by maybe the end of this year, early next year. We'll see how things get shaken up."
The rematch carried extra weight for Bautista, who had been seeking another shot at Sandhagen for a long time. "It did mean something personal to me," he said. "That's the only one that's itched at me a little bit. I like to be prepared for fights, and that's not how I imagined my debut to go. But it just so happened to be in such a big fight for a top spot, you know, getting a win over him, chasing him down. It's just crazy how it all worked out."
