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Winner of Umar Nurmagomedov vs Cory Sandhagen to earn title shot against Sean O’Malley or Merab Dvalishvili

Cory Sandhagen eyes UFC title eliminator with Umar Nurmagomedov next let's go at it A high-stakes bantamweight bout is set to headline UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday with title implications on the line….

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.

Nurmagomedov family gracie comparison Umar Nurmagomedov — MMA Junkie

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.

Michael Bisping commends Cory Sandhagen for risking it all against Umar Nurmagomedov

Michael Bisping commended Cory Sandhagen’s willingness to “risk it all” in a fight with rising contender Umar Nurmagomedov. Sitting…

Michael Bisping commended Cory Sandhagen’s willingness to “risk it all” in a fight with rising contender Umar Nurmagomedov.

Sitting in the No. 2 spot in the bantamweight rankings courtesy of a trio of victories over Song Yadong, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, and Rob Font, ‘Sandman’ should be the next man in line for a shot at the 135-pound crown — once reigning champion Sean O’Malley handles some business with Merab Dvalishvili. But instead of sitting back and waiting for his turn, Sandhagen is putting it all on the line against one of the division’s most feared contenders.

Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov will headline a massive Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi on August 3 with the winner securing themselves a guaranteed shot at the bantamweight title in late 2024/early 2025.

Speaking with TNT Sports, UFC Hall of Famer and former middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping applauded Sandhagen’s bravery, saying:

“When it comes to contenders, Cory Sandhagen is right there. He has proven himself as the worthy guy, but he’s got to continue fighting to establish himself and get that shot.

“There is no one better, no one hungrier or undeniable than Umar Nurmagomedov of course with that name, that resume. The undefeated record and the well-rounded skills. We know the wrestling is there but the man is a kickboxing phenom as well. This is a tremendous fight, of course, it’s the main event and whoever wins this has to be next for Sean O’Malley.”

Bisping Believes it’s a ‘Bad situation for both’ Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov

Recognizing the stakes at play, Bisping suggested that as exciting as the fight is on paper, it puts both fighters in a bad situation — particularly in the case of Cory Sandhage who, by all accounts, has already earned a title shot.

“It’s a bad situation for both of them. On paper, they are both right there. Sandhagen has earned a title fight. Remember that absolute washout he had of Chito [Marlon] Vera. No disrespect to Chito, he’s a good friend of mine.

“Sandhagen was just one step ahead. He’s a beautiful striker, he’s got great submission. He’s excellent at wrestling. He’s very tall and long for the division. He’s beaten some great competition and now he’s going to take on the undefeated Dagestani. I feel for Sandhagen but credit to this guy because he’s willing to do it and risk it all to go up against Umar Nurmagomedov, it’s a sensational fight.”

UFC indicates Cory Sandhagen will fight for 135-pound title with win over Umar Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi

Cory Sandhagen is one of the easiest going guys in all of mixed martial arts. He doesn’t complain, he…

Cory Sandhagen is one of the easiest going guys in all of mixed martial arts.

He doesn’t complain, he doesn’t make demands, and he never turns down a fight. But don’t for a moment think that ‘The Sandman’ doesn’t know his worth. So when the UFC came to him offering a main event matchup with Umar Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi on August 3, Sandhagen was more than willing to take the bout as long as the juice was worth the squeeze.

“I don’t try to complain too much,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I try not to have too many opinions. I just ask for more money if they want me to do things that I feel like are a little bit unreasonable, not that it was the most unreasonable ask. It’s still going to be a main event in a really cool city.

“I get to go to the Middle East again, which is fun for me. I’ll actually be able to explore a little bit before and after and go early to do the whole shifting my time zone thing, which I didn’t do the last couple times. I’m still really excited about it. The last couple times, Abu Dhabi fans were really awesome and really fair. I didn’t feel like I was in enemy territory or anything the last couple times. So yeah, I’m still excited about it.”

Aside from banking some extra cash for his trip to the Middle East, Cory Sandhagen will be fighting for his first crack at the undisputed bantamweight world title.

Current 135-pound king ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley is gearing up for a clash with the divison’s top-ranked-contender Merab Dvalishvili later this year, the winner likely to take on either Sandhagen or Nurmagomedov.

“Obviously, the first time that I went to dinner with the UFC, they offered me Umar, and I was like, ‘That’s a little bit down in the rankings.’ They were like, ‘Well, it’ll be a No. 1 contender fight.’ I was like, ‘OK, absolutely.’ Then, obviously that one got scrapped [in August 2023 when Nurmagomedov withdrew].

“This go-around, they relayed to me I don’t want to say the exact quote but, ‘I don’t know how you won’t be next after Merab [Dvalishvili], if you win this fight.’ Also, who else is there that can really do that? I also think that me and Sean is a really huge fight.”

Cory Sandhagen will be rooting for sean o’Malley

After capturing the bantamweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling in August, Sean O’Malley successfully defended the belt against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in the UFC 299 headliner in March. Initially, O’Malley lobbied for a champion vs. champion clash with Ilia Topuria before Dana White quickly shut down those talks.

Dvalishvili will go into his first title opportunity on a 10-fight win streak, his most recent win coming against former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. As it stands, ‘The Machine’ is favored to come out on top in the yet-to-be-announced bout, sitting as a -125 (55.56% implied chance) favorite on multiple sportsbooks.

Sandhagen will gladly take on either man, but he believes a fight with Sean O’Malley would be a far more marketable matchup.

“I’ll be rooting for [Sean] O’Malley in the next one, just because the bigger the fight, the bigger the challenge, the better,” Sandhagen said. “I’ll be rooting for O’Malley and that’s one the fans want to see really, really bad. I really want to give the fans what they want. So yeah, I hope that’s the case. … I think that they both have really, really tough tasks ahead of them in very different ways. Merab definitely needs to be able to close that space better than he has shown to do in the past. Then, O’Malley defended a few of Sterling’s pretty good shots. O’Malley can definitely wrestle, too. But wrestling that body type is kind of difficult.

“It’s a little bit weird but that’s such a big gap that Merab is going to have to cover. It’s going to be really tough on him. It might take him a while and obviously Sean is in really good shape and can move his feet. We saw (that) from the Chito fight, too. I think Merab has his hands more full than O’Malley does, but Merab definitely has a ton of heart. He’s been chomping at the bit for this world title for a really, really long time, so it’s hard to not count that in either.”

Cory Sandhagen set to fight rival Umar Nurmagomedov in UFC Abu Dhabi title eliminator in August

Former interim bantamweight title challenger, Cory Sandhagen is slated to make his return to the Octagon later this summer,…

Former interim bantamweight title challenger, Cory Sandhagen is slated to make his return to the Octagon later this summer, booking a headlining clash with Russian contender, Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi at the Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates on August 4.

Sandhagen, the current number two ranked bantamweight contender, has been sidelined since he headlined UFC Nashville last August, landing a decision win over Rob Font in a short-notice clash – with Nurmagomedov forced from a clash due to an injury setback.

Cory Sandhagen reveals funny reason Umar Nurmagomedov fight I'm a beast b*tch — Mandatory Credit: Josh Hedges – Zuffa LLC

Himself returning from injury following a failed main event against Sandhagen in a March return, Nurmagomedov, the current number nine ranked contender, improved to 17-0 with a decision win over debutante, Bekzat Almakhan.

Cory Sandhagen rebooks title eliminator with Umar Nurmagomedov

News of Sandhagen’s reworked clash with Nurmagomedov was confirmed by the promotion on their official X account this Monday morning.

“They’ll meet for a 5 round battle at #UFCAbuDhabi,” UFC posted. “@CorySandhagen vs. @UNmgdv”

17-4 as a professional, Sandhagen had turned in consecutive decision victories over the above-mentioned, Font, and most recent title challenger, Marlon Vera last year – which came off the back of a knockout win over surging contender, Song Yadong the annum prior.

Competing for interim bantamweight spoils on short-notice at UFC 267, Sandhagen suffered a decision defeat to former undisputed champion, Petr Yan in his most recent visit to Abu Dhabi.

During his tenure with the Dana White-led organization, the previously mentioned, Nurmagomedov has racked up notable victories over the likes of Brian Kelleher, and a stunning knockout triumph over Raoni Barcelos.

UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi takes place on August 4. from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with Cory Sandhagen versus Umar Nurmagomedov slated as the official headlining bout.

Who wins at UFC Abu Dhabi this summer: Cory Sandhagen or Umar Nurmagomedov?

Cory Sandhagen set to fight rival Umar Nurmagomedov in UFC Abu Dhabi title eliminator in August

Former interim bantamweight title challenger, Cory Sandhagen is slated to make his return to the Octagon later this summer,…

Cory Sandhagen rebooks title eliminator with Umar Nurmagomedov

News of Sandhagen’s reworked clash with Nurmagomedov was confirmed by the promotion on their official X account this Monday morning.

“They’ll meet for a 5 round battle at #UFCAbuDhabi,” UFC posted. “@CorySandhagen vs. @UNmgdv”

Competing for interim bantamweight spoils on short-notice at UFC 267, Sandhagen suffered a decision defeat to former undisputed champion, Petr Yan in his most recent visit to Abu Dhabi.

UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi takes place on August 4. from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with Cory Sandhagen versus Umar Nurmagomedov slated as the official headlining bout.

Who wins at UFC Abu Dhabi this summer: Cory Sandhagen or Umar Nurmagomedov?

Cory Sandhagen eyes title eliminator fight with UFC foe Umar Nurmagomedov next: ‘Let’s go at it’

UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen welcomes a number one contender fight with rising contender Umar Nurmagomedov. Now 5-0 inside the…

UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen welcomes a number one contender fight with rising contender Umar Nurmagomedov.

Now 5-0 inside the UFC, Nurmagomedov has yet to face a top-level bantamweight during his run with the promotion despite now being ranked in the top 10. There have been rumours that Nurmagomedov continues to be turned down by ranked fighters, but there has been one to accept the challenge.

Cory Sandhagen welcomes Umar Nurmagomedov fight

Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov were booked to face each other last August, but an injury forced Nurmagomedov out with Cory Sandhagen instead facing, and beating, Rob Font. Following his win this past weekend, Nurmagomedov called for a rebooking of the bout to take place on International Fight Week later this year. Now ranked No.3, Sandhagen is still open to the fight even if it meant fighting someone placed seven spots below him.

“I have no problem fighting Umar, especially if they’re telling me it’s for a #1 contender spot,” Sandhagen said during an interview with CBS Sports reporter, Shakiel Mahjouri.

“If they’re that high on him, let’s go at it and decide who should be fighting for the belt next and then let’s solidify this thing so that there’s no more question on whether it should be me or someone else. If I win the next one against Umar there’s no argument that I shouldn’t be fighting for the belt next.”

Since his loss to Petr Yan at UFC 267, Sandhagen has embarked on an impressive three-fight run, which includes a win over this week’s bantamweight title challenger, Marlon Vera. While Nurmagomedov may not be a notable name on his record, his talent and name vale in undeniable – following his win this past weekend the booking does make sense.

The bout will expose exactly what level Nurmagomedov is, Sandhagen’s striking ability has always been obvious but over the past couple of years, he has showed a real maturity and development in his overall game.

Who wins, Cory Sandhagen or Umar Nurmagomedov?