From watching Umar Nurmagomedov train alongside him, to now seeing him headline his first event, Khabib Nurmagomedov is pretty proud of his cousin. The bantamweight fighter has come a long way, but he is about to take on the toughest test in his career so far. At UFC Abu Dhabi, Umar will face Cory Sandhagen in what is effectively a title eliminator for the division. Ahead of this fight, ‘The Eagle’ penned a message to his cousin wishing him all the best.
Khabib maintains a warm relationship with all of his team members and it is customary for the former UFC champion to wish them on social media ahead of their fights. In his latest Instagram post, the 35-year-old addressed his cousin, who has taken up the nickname, ‘Young Eagle,’ and encouraged him to strive forward, saying,
“Junior only go forward May Allah keep you safe and help you in everything. @umar_nurmagomedov let’s go my Brother.”
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Nurmagomedov’s Instagram posts have the opposite effect of the Drake curse. Whenever he has posted for Makhachev or his brothers, they have ended up winning their respective fights. Naturally, ‘The Eagle’ will hope to have a similar effect this weekend on his young cousin as he takes on Sandhagen.
Meanwhile, Sandhagen, who is also quite confident of his chances, has his own plans following the UFC Abu Dhabi clash.
Sandhagen will shake Khabib’s hand after beating Umar
Cory Sandhagen is very confident that he will get the win over Umar Nurmagomedov this weekend. So much so that he’s already planning for what he might do after the victory.
In an interview with Daniel Cormier ahead of his fight, Sandhagen revealed that he will look forward to shaking Khabib Nurmagomedov’s hand,
“I’m gonna prove that I’m better than [Umar]. On Saturday, I plan on shaking Khabib’s hand, I plan on shaking Umar’s hand and apologizing and saying ‘I’m sorry that I had to beat you.'”
Cory Sandhagen plans on apologizing to Khabib after defeating Umar Nurmagomedov:
“I’m gonna prove that I’m better than [Umar]. On Saturday, I plan on shaking Khabib’s hand, I plan on shaking Umar’s hand and apologizing and saying ‘I’m sorry that I had to beat you.'”
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Whether it is a sign of respect or a taunt, is up to personal interpretation. However, seeing how ‘The Eagle’ would be in Umar’s corner, Sandhagen could not pass up the opportunity.
‘Sandman’ will also look to make quick work of the Dagestani fighter so he can make a case for taking on the winner of Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili.
