Cory Sandhagen is taking a big step towards the UFC title.
The #4 bantamweight contender is set to face off against the undefeated up-and-comer Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC Nashville on August 5th.
Nurmagomedov, perfect inside and out of the UFC, has yet to face any top competition in the company with UFC President Dana White claiming that nobody wants to fight Khabib’s protege… that is until a certain ‘gangster’ came along and accepted the offer.
Want The Title Shot? Beat Umar Nurmagomedov.
It might look like Sandhagen is just defending his top spot in the rankings, but in reality he’s fighting for so much more. According to ‘Sandman’, the UFC has promised him a title shot, should he defeat the feared Nurmagomedov.
“Yep, that was what was relayed to me,” Sandhagen said of a UFC title shot on The MMA Hour. “I almost feel like it’s more solidified even because they were gonna do Chito and Cejudo, right? That wouldn’t have been for #1 contender fight. I just beat Chito by a pretty big margin. So that wasn’t gonna [be for #1 contender].
“Henry was always in the back of my mind,” Sandhagen admitted. “It’s like, ‘ah, what if they do something with Henry, da da da’. But if they wanted to do Henry-Chito, then that almost, I feel like solidified me and Umar’s fight as #1 contender.”
Sandhagen On Nurmagomedov Skipping The Line
Coming off two straight wins over Chito Vera and Song Yadong, it’s sort of a no-brainer that Sandhagen is one win away from a title shot. However, what about Nurmagomedov (who is 4-0 in the UFC)?
Sandhagen was kind of shocked to see the #11 ranked fighter get this big opportunity, but ultimately understands how it happened.
“I suppose so,” Sandhagen said, on if he was surprised to see Nurmagomedov get a #1 contender fight. “I think the UFC is operating from the sense where it’s like, ‘well, if no one will fight him, what do we do?’ I definitely can see how that would be an issue.
“If I were Umar, I would be pretty upset that like, I’m trying to get a match and no one would fight me or whatever. I don’t wanna speculate on like if people are saying yes or no or whatever, but I know when they asked me, I said yes, you know? So I guess no one else wanted to fight him. That’s what Dana said too, so I guess no one else wanted to fight him. So what do you do?”
Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov takes place next month in the UFC Nashville headliner.
