Henry Cejudo thinks Cory Sandhagen's UFC Nashville performance opened title door for him vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Henry Cejudo thinks Cory Sandhagen will get passed up for a title shot after UFC on ESPN 50.

Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) used a heavy grapple approach to score a lopsided decision win over Rob Font (20-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in this past Saturday’s main event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Sandhagen received criticism for his performance from the likes of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, and Cejudo wasn’t impressed either. Sandhagen called for a title shot, but “Triple C” sees the UFC opting to go with him and Merab Dvalishvili instead – even though he’s coming off a close decision loss to Sterling at UFC 288.

“The way the bantamweight division is connected, it’s about performance, man,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “We’re all looking to get back to the title. … If Sandhagen wants a title shot, this is not the way to go about it. It’s going to be me and Merab, dude. That’s the only thing that makes logical sense.”

Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) ripped Sandhagen for his approach, and thinks he respected Font way too much.

“Sandhagen’s fighting too conservative,” Cejudo said. “I think he just wants to win just to win. Come on, dude. You’ve got to get the principles of this game. It’s me and Merab, 100 percent. We’re either fighting for the title or we’re fighting to fight for the title.

“That’s it. Thank you. … We’re all hunting to get to that next bantamweight title shot: me, Merab. If you don’t know how to play this game, bro, you just got passed up because that’s terrible. It would be crazy if the UFC were to skip me and Merab over this.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 50.