A high-stakes bantamweight bout is set to headline UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday with title implications on the line.
Cory Sandhagen is set to take on Umar Nurmagomedov in a highly-anticipated bout at bantamweight. Ahead of the fight, Nurmagomedov says the UFC has told him he gets the winner of Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili who are scheduled to fight at Noche UFC.
“I hope I will fight next, they said I will fight whoever will win (between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili),” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie. “Yes, (they told me I will be next).”
Although Umar Nurmagomedov says he will be getting a title shot with a win at UFC Abu Dhabi, he isn’t sure who wins the bantamweight title fight between O’Malley and Dvalishvili.
“I think they pray,” Nurmagomedov said. “They hope I will pull out and will not take this opportunity to fight for the title. They wish this. For me it doesn’t matter who wins. It’s a very hard fight for both. One is a wrestling, one is a striker weight height. He is tall. Stylistically, for me, personally it’s very difficult to say who is going to win. I don’t know.”
Umar Nurmagomedov enters UFC Abu Dhabi as a sizeable -305 favorite to defeat Cory Sandhagen.
Cory Sandhagen Confirms Umar Nurmagomedov Is A No. 1 Contender Fight
Not only has Umar Nurmagomedov said he will get a title shot with a win at UFC Abu Dhabi, but Cory Sandhagen says he has been told this is a No. 1 contender fight.
Sandhagen wanted to be in a No. 1 contender fight if he wasn’t going to get a title shot, which is what the Nurmagomedov bout is.
“They still wanted me and Umar doing a No. 1 contender fight, so they asked for it,” Sandhagen said to The New York Post. “I was kind of like, ‘Hey, I think Umar should get a win beforehand or at least have a fight.’ I feel like that would be a fair thing to ask.”
Sandhagen is coming off a decision win over Rob Font last August.