UFC bantamweight contenders, Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov will finally meet in the Octagon on August 3rd in the main event of the UFC’s Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.
The two were originally scheduled to fight back in August last year, but Umar Nurmagomedov withdrew from the fight because of an injury.
Cory Sandhagen stayed on the card and fought late replacement Rob Font, dominating him in the five-round main event.
The Russian prospect did return to action earlier this year, beating UFC newcomer Bekzat Almakhan after getting dropped in the opening round.
Since then, ‘The Sandman’ has regularly asked that his fight with the undefeated Nurmagomedov be rebooked, with him finally getting his wish earlier this week when it was announced.
Cory Sandhagen wants to exploit Nurmagomedov’s cardio ‘vulnerability’
Talking to Demetrious Johnson on the Mighty YouTube channel, Sandhagen admitted he was ‘really bummed’ when their first scheduled fight fell through because he gets a ‘kick’ out of problem-solving for his opponents.
“I remember being genuinely really bummed because I feel like I really get a kick out of problem-solving in this sport, I get a kick out of the technical side, the strategic side. The physical piece I feel like everyone can kind of do.
“I get a real kick of trying to figure out how to beat these really good athletes and how to beat these guys like the Nurmagomedov family has 0 losses.” Sandhagen added.
The 32-year-old has highlighted Umar’s vulnerability as his cardio, with him looking to exploit that side of the Russian’s game.
Nurmagomedov is yet to fight anyone inside the rankings at 135lbs and is yet to have to display his cardio over five rounds with this being his first main event.
“From a strategic standpoint, I really want to fight Umar in a five-round fight because in his last (fight) he was breathing heavily. He was working hard though so I’ll give him that, it was well within the realm of reality for him to be that tired.
“But that fool was really huffing and puffing during that (in cage) interview so I think there’s a vulnerability there that I can capitalize on.” Sandhagen claimed.
Sean O’Malley’s next title defense is still not confirmed
The UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, is still yet to have his next title defense confirmed, with it extremely likely to be against Merab Dvalishvili.
‘The Machine’ Merab recently claimed that the UFC is targeting the fight for UFC 306 on September 14th, but ‘Suga’ came out and disputed the claims, admitting that he hasn’t heard that’s the case.
Dvalishvili, who has become a fan favorite in recent years, shared a new video to his social media recently, digging a grave with O’Malley’s face on, further building that potential fight.
O’Malley last fought in March at UFC 299, successfully defending his 135lb title against Marlon Vera in dominant fashion.
The winner of Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov is likely going to fight for the title next, considering ‘The Sandman’ is ranked second in the division.