Cory Sandhagen is looking to channel his inner Mike Tyson this coming Saturday, and that is extending to his pre-fight preparation.
With the UFC looking to get back on the road more often, this Saturday, the promotion lands in Iowa for UFC Des Moines with a main event between Deiveson Figueiredo and Cory Sandhagen.
‘Sandman’ Sandhagen is looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Umar Nurmagomedov last August by handing Figueiredo his second loss in a row.
The longtime bantamweight contender has been a favourite amongst fans for a while because of his extremely exciting fighting style, as well as scoring some blockbuster underdog wins.
Sandhagen to copy Mike Tyson pre-fight ritual ahead of UFC Des Moines
Ahead of another big fight in the division, Sandhagen has cracked fans up with his pre-fight antics, recently sharing a skit of him using ChatGPT to come up with trash talk.
However, one pre-fight admission from Sandhagen has caused some concern amongst the fanbase as he recently revealed that he will consume a ‘F— load of mushrooms’ ahead of his UFC Des Moines fight.
One of the most feared men ever, Mike Tyson, became famous for is advocation of psychedelic mushrooms ahead of his fights, and before his controversial fight against Jake Paul last year, Tyson admitted that he would be high on mushrooms during the fight.
“I usually do a pretty heavy dose about two weeks before the fight, not like crazy, I’m not gonna do a hero’s dose or anything but yeah,” Sandhagen said in a recent video on his YouTube channel.
“So yeah, I usually do a pretty heavy dose of mushrooms a couple of weeks before I fight… I really just like exploring the subconscious parts of my mind and just expanding everything, it just makes me a more whole person. This is just part of my rituals, and it works for me,” Sandhagen continued.
Israel Adesanya experimented with psychedelics ahead of Alex Pereira rematch
Although Sandhagen’s admission has concerned several fans who have questioned the safety of it so close to a fight, there are case studies of it having worked for fighters.
After Israel Adesanya exacted revenge over Alex Pereira with a crushing knockout at UFC 287, he recently revealed that ahead of the fight, he experimented with psychedelics, which allowed for him to really ‘Hone in’ on the task ahead of him.
If ‘Sandman’ Sandhagen can score a win over the former UFC flyweight champion this Saturday, he could put himself back into title contention at 135lbs.