Render using formatted data, Sort using raw data in DataTables.net

Here is a sample of my datatables config

{
    "dom"        : "rltip",
    "processing" : true,
    "serverSide" : false,
    "order"      : [ [ 1 , "desc" ] ],
    "searching"  : false,
    data: [
       { "column-a" : "Sample Data A" , "column-b" : 10 , "column-c" : "Blah Blah" },
       { "column-a" : "Sample Data B" , "column-b" : 5 , "column-c" : "Blah Blah" },
       { "column-a" : "Sample Data C" , "column-b" : 38 , "column-c" : "Blah Blah" }
    ],
    "columnDefs" : [
        {
            "targets"   : 0,
            "orderable" : false,
            "data"      : "column-a"
        },
        {
            "targets"   : 1,
            "orderable" : false,
            "data"      : "column-b"
        },
        {
            "targets"   : 2,
            "orderable" : true,
            "className" : "title",
            "data"      : "column-c"
        }
     ]
}

I wanted to format the data on display, but on sorting and other backend related stuff, i want to use the raw unformated data.

Important: I must do this on client side ( javascript ).

I already tried the render function callback on the columnDefs but it doesn't seem to work.

"render" : function( data , type , row ) {

    if ( type === "sort" )
        return data;

    // format data here
    return data; // This is a formatted data

}

What i mean about "it doesn't seem to work" is the sorting is broken, it will take in consideration the formatted data, not just the raw data.

I found this old related article but it doesnt seem to be applicable anymore to the newer version of datatables.net

https://datatables.net/forums/discussion/8249/filtering-using-the-rendered-text-however-sorting-using-the-original-value

I am using version 1.10.15