Ahead of his huge main event against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Abu Dhabi this coming Saturday, Cory Sandhagen has revealed that he will have a new face in his corner.
Since losing to Petr Yan in 2021, Cory Sandhagen has gone on to win three fights in a row, with his last coming against Rob Font last August.
Many believed that the 32-year-old deserved to go on to fight for the bantamweight title, but the promotion instead decided that Sean O’Malley would defend his title against Marlon Vera.
Cory Sandhagen will welcome a new coach into his corner for UFC Abu Dhabi fight
Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov were originally scheduled to fight last August, but the Russian prospect withdrew just a few weeks out.
Their fight this coming weekend is regarded as a number one contender fight, with the winner expected to fight against the winner of O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili.
The ‘Sandman’ is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division, and ahead of this Saturday’s clash, Sandhagen has sought the assistance of one of the most renowned coaches in the sport, Trevor Wittman.
“I’ve been with Trevor for about four months now. Working with Trevor has been great, he’s super impressive, he really knows how to work with the athletes on the technical strategic side of things, I haven’t met anyone better, honestly,” Sandhagen told MMAJunkie.
“Yeah, all three of those guys are going to be in my corner (Trevor Wittman, Carrington Banks, and Ryan Hall),” Sandhagen confirmed.
Wittman has been responsible for head coaching former UFC champions, Rose Namajunas, Justin Gaethje, and Kamaru Usman. Sandhagen, in fact, helped Gaethje prepare for his UFC 300 fight against Max Holloway.
Wittman will be helping break down the puzzle that is Nurmagomedov, as 18 have previously tried, but all have failed.
Sandhagen is expecting that Nurmagomedov will try to stand with him for a while, before shooting for a takedown.
“I think he’s going to stand for a little bit, I don’t really know his strategy of course I’m going to be ready for anything but I think that he’s going to keep it standing for a little bit, in that wrestling like that is very energy taxing and it’s his first five-round fight and that’s something he’s got to think about.”
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Sandhagen rooting for O’Malley to beat Dvalishvili to set up desired fight
With O’Malley scheduled to take on Merab at UFC 306 in September, Sandhagen is hopeful that ‘Suga’ will successfully defend his title so that he can finally share the cage with him, as it is a fight the fans want.
‘Sandman’ admitted that he would hopefully be in attendance for the spectacle, even just as a spectator, as it would take a lot of money for him to agree to be a backup.
“I want to see who I’m fighting after. I don’t know, it’d have to be for a lot of money (for me to be a backup).
“Definitely rooting for O’Malley I think that that’s the bigger fight, that’s a fight that people have been asking for for forever. I think if me and him go into a cage it’s going to be fireworks, it’s going to be so technical… that’s what the fans want to see really really bad, so I’m gonna get this win, O’Malley get yourself a win and then we’ll give the fans what they’ve been asking for for years,” Sandhagen added.
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