Mario Bautista explains why he is hunting finish against Cory Sandhagen

Mario
Bautista doesn’t want to leave it up to the judges in his
upcoming fight.

Bautista is set to take on Cory
Sandhagen in a bantamweight matchup at UFC 329
on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He believes Sandhagen
has a clear wrestling disadvantage against him, and plans to push
the pace early.

Mario
Bautista On His Game Plan For Cory
Sandhagen

With his last fight being a decision loss, Bautista doesn’t want to
let Sandhagen use his evasive movement to bank rounds. Their
upcoming clash being a three-rounder, he is eager to avoid leaving
it to the judges.

Eyeing a definitive finish, Bautista told Home of Fight: “I’m gonna
be hunting that finish. I think it’s obvious where he’s not really
the best, which is on the mat. So I’m gonna be hunting for that
finish. Pushing hard. We got three rounds. So I’m gonna have to get
on the gas right away. I can’t just let him get away with a
decision and run around or anything. I think it’s gonna be an
exciting fight.”

Bautista (17-3) was riding an eight-fight winning streak, which was
snapped by a unanimous decision loss to top contender Umar
Nurmagomedov last year. He has since rebounded with a
submission win over Vinicius
Oliveira this past February. Meanwhile, Sandhagen (18-6) is 1-2
in his last three outings and is coming off a failed title bid
against Merab
Dvalishvili.

😤 ‼️Mario
Bautista says he’s going to make sure to finish Cory
Sandhagen and not leave anything up to the judges.

“I know what I have to do to beat him, I’m going to hunt for that
finish.

I’m going to get on the gas real early and make sure he doesn’t
have the time or ability… pic.twitter.com/MBr4Ul3caS— Home of
Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
July 1, 2026