Tag: Cory Sandhagen

Cory Sandhagen: UFC champ Sean O’Malley has ‘really good shot’ of finishing Merab Dvalishvili

Cory Sandhagen envisions UFC champ Sean O’Malley stopping Merab Dvalishvili.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] envisions UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] stopping [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag].

O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) announced that he’d like to fight Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) next to prove to everyone that he isn’t ducking the streaking contender.

Dvalishvili is a relentless grappler. He attempted a UFC record 49 takedowns in his win over Petr Yan and managed to take down Olympic gold medalist wrestler Henry Cejudo five times in a come-from-behind win at UFC 298. But with O’Malley’s precision and knockout power, Sandhagen wouldn’t be surprised if the champion was able to take out Dvalishvili.

“I think O’Malley has a really good shot at clipping Merab and finishing him,” Sandhagen said in an interview with Fanatics View. “That’s never really a good place to put all your eggs in a basket. That’s not a super reliable way to win. But, it’s reliable for O’Malley usually. So, I think if you have to start standing against O’Malley for five rounds and he’s that much better of a striker than Merab.

“Merab is a far superior wrestler and grappler than O’Malley is, but O’Malley is a far superior striker, so that makes it really interesting. Also just the style Merab has in grappling, he doesn’t really hold people down. He kind of lets them work back up and so if I was Merab, I would try and stick him to the mat and keep him there. If I was O’Malley, I would use that first minute of each round to really do what he did to Sterling and pinpoint, and missile this guy from a far. So, I can see O’Malley winning.”

Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is angling for a fight against another high-level wrestler in undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. The former interim title challenger hopes a win would lead to a shot at the winner of the projected matchup between O’Malley and Dvalishvili.

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UFC’s Cory Sandhagen wants five-round fight with Umar Nurmagomedov – preferably not in Middle East

UFC bantamweight standout Cory Sandhagen hopes his fight with Umar Nurmagomedov is five rounds.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] hopes his fight with [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is five rounds.

Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) accepted Nurmagomedov’s (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) callout for their fight to be rebooked. Nurmagomedov is coming off a unanimous decision win over newcomer Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Fight Night 238.

Sandhagen thinks the high pace Nurmagomedov pushed against Almakhan slowed him down, something he plans on exposing in a 25-minute fight. Sandhagen’s past five fights have been scheduled for five rounds, four of which went the distance.

“That’s what I asked for,” Sandhagen said in an interview with Fanatics View. “I feel like I’m a five-round fighter. I do better in five-round fights. The pace that I feel I could be able to push in a three rounder, especially after doing five rounds for the last two or three years of my life, would be maybe enjoyable. I think it would be cool to push the pace that high. If this is a three rounder, I feel like camp is going to be a lot easier.

“It’s not really going to be, but maybe the level of physical getting beat up is going to be less because I don’t need to do seven, eight rounds when I’m sparring if I’m doing a three-round fight. That would kind of mess up the pace in which I would fight at anyways. Yeah, he definitely was breathing hard. He definitely showed a vulnerability, and that’s definitely not something you want to do.”

The UFC already has two events scheduled in the Middle East – June 22 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, and Aug. 3 in Abu Dhabi. However, Sandhagen would rather their fight did not take place in the Middle East.

“I don’t know that I should have to go to the other side of the world to fight,” Sandhagen said. “I’m giving him a shot. That’s what it feels like. I am the guy giving him the platform to show that he deserves to fight for the belt next, and, no, I don’t really love the idea of going halfway across the world so that he can have an advantage.”

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Umar Nurmagomedov sees Cory Sandhagen as a tougher fight than Sean O’Malley: ‘His IQ is very high level’

Umar Nurmagomedov thinks Cory Sandhagen is a sterner test for him than the champion.

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] is a sterner test for him than the champion.

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) called for his previously scrapped bout with Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) to be rescheduled after defeating newcomer Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Fight Night 238.

Nurmagomedov got his wish when Sandhagen verbally agreed to fight him, but that doesn’t mean the undefeated rising contender is taking him lightly. In fact, he sees Sandhagen as a tougher challenge than bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC).

“I think one of the hard fights in my division, it’s Cory,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “Nobody fights like Cory. He’s talented, he has very good technique, and I like this. It’s big challenge for me. I want to fight – if I will choose, of course I want to fight with Cory, and I hope to soon because I want to begin my training camp. … Yes, I think it’s more hard than even O’Malley because Cory, it’s very difficult. His IQ is very high level I think.”

Nurmagomedov was critical of O’Malley’s wrestling. After seeing him get taken down six times by Petr Yan at UFC 280, he questions his defense.

“When I saw his fight with Petr Yan and Petr Yan take him down, I understand he’s not high-level wrestler and he don’t have some defense,” Nurmagomedov said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to learn. If you want to wrestle from a high level, couple years, you need this.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Cory Sandhagen accepts Umar Nurmagomedov’s callout for fight to be rebooked under one condition

Cory Sandhagen will fight Umar Nurmagomedov as long as he’s guaranteed a title shot with a win.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] will fight [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] as long as he’s guaranteed a title shot with a win.

Nurmagomedov called out Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) after defeating newcomer Bekzat Almakhan by unanimous decision Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238. The pair were scheduled to fight last August in the UFC on ESPN 50 main event, but Nurmagomedov withdrew.

Sandhagen had previously said if Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) looked impressive against Almakhan, he’d be open to rescheduling the fight. He still stands by his stipulation that he’ll fight him if winning guarantees him a title shot.

“I have no problem fighting Umar, especially if they’re telling me that it’s for a No. 1 contender spot,” Sandhagen told CBS Sports. “If they’re that high on him, then yeah, let’s go at it. Decide who should be fighting for the belt next and then let’s solidify this thing for me so that there’s no more question of whether it should be me, or someone else. If I win the next one against Umar, there’s absolutely no argument that I feel like I shouldn’t be fighting for the belt next.”

Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends his title in a rematch against Marlon Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 299 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) headliner at Kaseya Center in Miami.

However, Sandhagen will have to wait his turn after Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC). The Georgian fighter was declared No. 1 contender after defeating Henry Cejudo at UFC 298, and will weigh in as a backup for O’Malley vs. Vera.

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‘Serious’ Umar Nurmagomedov wants Cory Sandhagen fight rebooked: ‘I can finish him’

Umar Nurmagomedov badly wants to prove himself vs. the bantamweight elite after UFC Fight Night 238 – and it starts with Cory Sandhagen.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is tired of messing around.

After extending his unbeaten record Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238 with a unanimous decision win over newcomer Bekzat Almakhan at the UFC Apex, Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) voiced frustrations over the narratives that are tied to his MMA career.

In particular, Nurmagomedov took aim at those who criticize his inactive schedule and key fight withdrawal in a scheduled main event vs. [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 50 this past August.

When presented with the opportunity at the UFC Fight Night 238 post-fight news conference, Nurmagomedov attempted to set the record straight.

“Everybody talks about my pullouts,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “In my life, I pulled out because of me, my health – two times. First time, I was sick. My face was very big, some stuff, and I didn’t sleep all night. I was very sick. I didn’t remember something worse than that time in my life. I didn’t fight, but it was the fight with Sergey Morozov. Later, I fought with him. Second time because of me, my health, I pulled out because of my shoulder. I injured my shoulder and I did surgery. I will fight with Cory Sandhagen again, I hope. It’s two times I pulled out because of me.

“Other when coronavirus came, my uncle passed away, when my opponents pulled out. They’re going to count everything and say, ‘Umar pulled out eight times.’ No, it’s not true. I pulled out two times. One time I fought with this same guy again. I don’t think someone is scared. I think everyone who comes to do this job goes inside and tries to damage each other. Everyone is brave. I just want to fight.”

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Before Nurmagomedov’s fight against Almakhan, where he was knocked down for the first time and forced to rally for a dominant sweep on the scorecards, Sandhagen said he would be interested in rescheduling their canceled bout if Nurmagomedov looked “awesome.”

Nurmagomedov, 28 hopes his performance convinced Sandhagen to take the fight again, because he badly wants to prove himself against the elite of the bantamweight division.

“I talk because I know what job they did – I know other guys what they are doing,” Nurmagomedov said. “The way I’m talking, I can smash and I can finish Petr Yan. I’m serious. When I talk about Cory Sandhagen, that I can finish him, I’m serious – not because I’m cocky or something like that. No, guys, I have very good team. Look at my team. We have three or four guys who are lightweight champions. Who else’s team has that? Nobody.

“Next is Cory Sandhagen. He (wants to) fight me on International (Fight Week). If he don’t want to and somebody else, I don’t care. I really don’t care.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Cory Sandhagen open to rebooking Umar Nurmagomedov fight if it’s No. 1 contender, and ‘he does awesome’ on March 2

Cory Sandhagen is willing to reschedule his fight against Umar Nurmagomedov, but under two conditions.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] is willing to reschedule his fight against [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag], but under two conditions.

Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) was booked to face Nurmagomedov in the UFC on ESPN 50 headliner this past August, but faced Rob Font instead after Nurmagomedov withdrew due to injury. Sandhagen dominated Font, but tore his triceps in Round 1.

At first, Sandhagen wasn’t keen on fighting Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) again. He explains that after beating Font, he expected to take a step forward, not backwards.

“It wasn’t necessarily a no as much as it was like, ‘Hey, give me some time to think about it,’ because it does feel like I would maybe be a little slighted in that situation – only because I felt like I was now one fight ahead of fighting him,” Sandhagen told MMA on SiriusXM. “If you’re paired up to fight someone and one guy pulls out, and then you win your fight, you’re kind of ahead, in my opinion, right?

“But when I talked to the UFC initially and they brought that up, I was pretty much like, ‘Hey, just give me a little time to think and sit with that one,’ because if that’s what you guys are telling me is going to be for the title next, then absolutely. But if that’s not going to be the situation, then the rankings matter a little bit – or at least they kind of do.”

Nurmagomedov drew Kazakhstan’s Bekzat Almakhan (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. With UFC CEO Dana White saying Merab Dvalishvili is now No. 1 contender, Sandhagen will consider the Nurmagomedov fight if he looks impressive against Almakhan.

“Where I stand with Umar now is if he gets a good win on March 2, and he looks good, and he does awesome, and they don’t give me the title shot next, do me and Umar at International Fight Week,” Sandhagen said.

“Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to have happened before that happens, but I’m still open to Umar. I just felt like I was one fight ahead of him, and now that he has the opportunity to not make that the case, then I’m definitely back open to it.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night event March 2.

Mario Bautista hopes he gets Cory Sandhagen rematch before fighting for UFC title

Mario Bautista would love to cross paths with Cory Sandhagen again en route to a UFC title shot.

[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag] would love to cross paths with [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] again en route to a UFC title shot.

Bautista (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) notched his sixth win in a row when he defeated Ricky Simon by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 234. With the aim of breaking into the UFC’s top 10 bantamweight rankings, the 30-year-old called out Rob Font.

Sandhagen is on the cusp of title contention, and Bautista knows he’s not quite there yet. Bautista lost his UFC debut on short notice to Sandhagen in 2019 and relishes the opportunity to someday avenge that loss.

“I definitely want to fight Cory Sandhagen before I fight for the title,” Bautista told MMA Junkie Radio. “That’s another one I want to get back for sure. But, like I said, I have to work my way up, and I would have to feel right about asking for that.”

Bautista, who’s also ready to fight the likes of Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili, knows he isn’t in a position to be campaigning for those fights. However, it’s not a matter of competition.

“It’s just that they’re bigger stars,” Bautista explained. “Just for promotion-wise, I think it would be hard to sell those fights. Fight-wise, all the fighters would think those are awesome fights and would watch it no matter what. So, I think a great story would be against Sandhagen. I lost my debut against him, so for me to work all that way straight back to him at the top, I think that would be a great selling point.”

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Marlon Vera would love to rematch Cory Sandhagen’s ‘dorky ass’ if he becomes champion

Marlon Vera is eyeing Cory Sandhagen first if he can capture the bantamweight title.

[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] is eyeing [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] first if he can capture the bantamweight title.

Vera (23-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) challenges bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in the UFC 299 headliner at Kaseya Center on March 9 in Miami – a rematch from their August 2020 fight where Vera handed O’Malley the lone loss of his career by TKO.

If Vera can beat O’Malley a second time and become champion, he’d like to avenge a loss of his own. Vera was defeated by Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in this past March’s UFC on ESPN 43 headliner.

“I will ask for Sandhagen because he beat me,” Vera told The Schmo. “That’s the only reason I will choose that fight. The winner of Merab (Dvalishvili) and Henry (Cejudo) is also a big fight, and the UFC knows, whoever they pick I will (fight). But if I had to choose myself, I want to kick Cory’s ass. I know his dorky ass is crying about it, but it’s not my fault no one gives a f*ck about him.”

Vera admits he likely wouldn’t have been next in line for a title shot had he not beaten O’Malley, who’s convinced that “Chito” got lucky when he low kicked him in his peroneal nerve and finished him on the ground.

“The only reason this fight is happening is because I beat him,” Vera said. “That’s the only reason the fight is happening. So, I’m glad it came out like that. This is the best moment to do it, title fight, and I’m excited to become a world champion soon.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Cory Sandhagen theorizes why he was passed up for a title fight vs. UFC champ Sean O’Malley

Cory Sandhagen understands why he may have been snubbed of a title fight.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] understands why he may have been snubbed from a chance at a title fight.

Bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense at UFC 299 on March 9 against Marlon Vera (23-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC), who was handily defeated by Sandhagen this past March.

After he beat Vera, Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) scored another lopsided win over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 50, but tore his triceps early. Sandhagen’s win over Font wasn’t the most crowd-pleasing performance, and he knows it.

“The whole thing where ‘you’re only as good as your last fight,’ I think is a very true thing – especially with how quick the UFC and just life in general moves,” Sandhagen said on the JAXXON PODCAST. “I think that your last one has to be big and it has to cause excitement and it has to do all of that.

“Getting hurt is something I can’t really control. The fight (vs. Font) wasn’t good. It didn’t build up a lot of hype. I get that. What the UFC cares about the most is the product you put out when you fight. I think that if you fight exciting and you finish guys and you go out and fight your ass off, I think that’s what they care about the most.”

Vera has history with O’Malley which helped him secure the title shot. “Chito” is the only fighter to beat O’Malley, which the champion insists was a fluke. Although Sandhagen gave Vera a tough time, he doesn’t think O’Malley beats him with ease.

“‘Chito’ doesn’t attack the same way that typical guys do,” Sandhagen said. “‘Chito’ likes staying very stationary. When he backs up, he’s like a Kung Fu guy moving backwards – so really hard to hit good. O’Malley doesn’t really close distance very good. He’s not like a 1-1-2, moving-forward guy. He’s not that guy.

“I think the ‘Chito’-O’Malley fight is going to be tough for Sean way more than what people are anticipating. I think that what ‘Chito’ does really good is makes reads and f*cking capitalizes and hits people quick and hits them hard. I think that he’s going to potentially be able to do that with O’Malley. I also don’t know how durable O’Malley is. That fight is going to be way closer than I think other ones.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

UFC in 2023: A ridiculously robust look at the stats, streaks, skids and record-setters

Check out a full recap of 2023’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.

Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producers Michael Carroll, here are some of 2023’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.