“Don’t Really Care”: Cory Sandhagen on Fighting ‘Lower Ranked’ Umar Nurmagomedov, Calls It ‘Number 1 Contender Fight’

Despite Umar Nurmagomedov being ranked way below Cory Sandhagen, the American believes the fight will deliver on its promise of being a thriller. In a few weeks, the UFC will return to Abu Dhabi for its annual stop in the capital city. The main event on the night will be a bantamweight title eliminator between Sandhagen and  Nurmagomedov.

Going into the fight, detractors believe that Nurmagomedov isn’t ranked high enough and that Sandhagen is taking a massive risk by accepting such a bout. However, ‘Sandman’ sees it quite differently.

The 32-year-old recently joined Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo for an interview on their YouTube channel. During their conversation, Usman asked Sandhagen about his thoughts on the fight and what could be next for him if he wins. To this, the American mentioned that despite what the rankings say, Nurmagomedov belongs to a great team and is on a five-fight win streak. Furthermore, Sandhagen insisted that rankings do not bother him, as he said,

“I am really excited to fight him and I don’t really care too much about the rankings and what it means. I just know that it is the number one contender fight and that is what I asked for.”

 

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As things stand in the bantamweight division, Sandhagen is ranked 2nd while Nurmagomedov is ranked 11th. Moreover, while ‘Sandman’ is on a three-fight win streak with wins over the likes of Rob Font, Marlon Vera, and Yadong Song, Khabib’s cousin is undefeated and has won all five of his fights in the UFC.

Hence, despite the rankings not being in their favor, Sandhagen trusts the UFC will give him a title shot if he secures the win in Abu Dhabi.

A closer look at Nurmagomedov vs Sandhagen

Going into the fight, Sandhagen will have a three-inch height advantage and a one-inch reach advantage. However, Nurmagomedov is the better grappler of the two and will be aiming to keep the fight on the ground as long as possible. Still, that will be easier said than done against Sandhagen who has a 64% takedown defense rate.

When it comes to striking, Sandhagen, unsurprisingly, lands 5.33 significant strikes per minute compared to 4.75 for Nurmagomedov. This is what gave the #2 contender the confidence to say that he will be going for an exciting finish against the Russian fighter.

Moreover, the UFC will keep a few weeks gap between the Abu Dhabi bout and a Bantamweight title fight, giving the winner plenty of time to recover and start planning early.