Cory Sandhagen
USA
Another win, title shot next?
Sandhagen defeated Deiveson Figueiredo via TKO (injury) at 4:08 of Round 2 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
ANALYSIS
It was the dominant bell-to-bell performance you expect when a fighter enters as north of a -500 favorite. Sandhagen completely overwhelmed Figueiredo with his physicality, controlling things on the mat and seemingly almost always ending up in a dominant position. A Figueiredo knee injury resulted in an early finish, but at the time of the stoppage, Sandhagen had a 92-8 edge in total strikes landed and connected on both of his takedown attempts for 5:07 worth of control time. It was a brilliant effort that would go on to earn him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Cory entered having dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Umar Nurmagomedov his last time out. That typically would mean he wouldn't be in line for a title shot, but Umar already got his shot at current UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili in January and lost. Merab and Sean O'Malley will have a rematch for the title at UFC 316 in Newark in early-June, at which time Sandhagen should be next in line for the winner.
It was the dominant bell-to-bell performance you expect when a fighter enters as north of a -500 favorite. Sandhagen completely overwhelmed Figueiredo with his physicality, controlling things on the mat and seemingly almost always ending up in a dominant position. A Figueiredo knee injury resulted in an early finish, but at the time of the stoppage, Sandhagen had a 92-8 edge in total strikes landed and connected on both of his takedown attempts for 5:07 worth of control time. It was a brilliant effort that would go on to earn him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Cory entered having dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Umar Nurmagomedov his last time out. That typically would mean he wouldn't be in line for a title shot, but Umar already got his shot at current UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili in January and lost. Merab and Sean O'Malley will have a rematch for the title at UFC 316 in Newark in early-June, at which time Sandhagen should be next in line for the winner.
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Set to fight Figueiredo
Sandhagen will fight Deiveson Figueiredo on May 3 at UFC Des Moines, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Sandhagen has booked his next fight as he looks to avenge his loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August. Figueiredo is also coming off a loss to Petr Yan in November. Sandhagen will have a significant advantage in height (six inches) and reach (two inches) in Iowa.
Sandhagen has booked his next fight as he looks to avenge his loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August. Figueiredo is also coming off a loss to Petr Yan in November. Sandhagen will have a significant advantage in height (six inches) and reach (two inches) in Iowa.
Hangs tough in decision loss
Sandhagen lost to Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (45-50, 46-49, 46-49) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
ANALYSIS
Entering as upwards of a +300 underdog, Sandhagen fought as well as could have reasonably been expected. He did a brilliant job of warding off takedown attempts from Nurmagomedov and not settling for a disadvantageous position. Sandhagen wasn't pinned to the mat for any real length of time until there was just a few minutes remaining in the fight. The issue for Cory was his inability to land any real damaging blows on the feet. He was pretty much one-and-done and appeared to be constantly reaching for his opponent. The bout was far more competitive than the scorecards would lead you to believe, but Umar began to pull away late. Sandhagen is unquestionably one of the best bantamweights in the world, but he's had all sorts of difficult winning the "big" fight over the course of his six-plus year UFC run. He is still looking for that one massive career-defining victory, which once again eluded him this evening.
Entering as upwards of a +300 underdog, Sandhagen fought as well as could have reasonably been expected. He did a brilliant job of warding off takedown attempts from Nurmagomedov and not settling for a disadvantageous position. Sandhagen wasn't pinned to the mat for any real length of time until there was just a few minutes remaining in the fight. The issue for Cory was his inability to land any real damaging blows on the feet. He was pretty much one-and-done and appeared to be constantly reaching for his opponent. The bout was far more competitive than the scorecards would lead you to believe, but Umar began to pull away late. Sandhagen is unquestionably one of the best bantamweights in the world, but he's had all sorts of difficult winning the "big" fight over the course of his six-plus year UFC run. He is still looking for that one massive career-defining victory, which once again eluded him this evening.
Return finally scheduled
Sandhagen (triceps) is scheduled to compete against Umar Nurmagomedov in a five-round bantamweight fight at UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3, per Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com.
ANALYSIS
After over eight months recovering from a tricep injury, Sandhagen has been scheduled a fight for a date that would make it just under a year since his last bout, a win over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville. Nurmagomedov expected to compete against Sandhagen then before the former withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
After over eight months recovering from a tricep injury, Sandhagen has been scheduled a fight for a date that would make it just under a year since his last bout, a win over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville. Nurmagomedov expected to compete against Sandhagen then before the former withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
Out six months for biceps surgery
Sandhagen said Thursday that he will undergo surgery to address a torn triceps and will be out for six months, Nolan King of USA Today reports.
ANALYSIS
Sandhagen's injury doesn't bode well for his championship ambitions, as Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley are scheduled to fight for bantamweight gold on Saturday. After that, the next bantamweight championship fight could take place before Sandhagen overcomes the triceps injury.
Sandhagen's injury doesn't bode well for his championship ambitions, as Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley are scheduled to fight for bantamweight gold on Saturday. After that, the next bantamweight championship fight could take place before Sandhagen overcomes the triceps injury.
Another easy win, title shot next?
Sandhagen defeated Rob Font via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) at UFC on ESPN 50 on Saturday in Nashville.
ANALYSIS
The crowd in Nashville wasn't thrilled with Sandhagen's grappling-oriented game plan, but he did what was necessary to ensure he would cruise to a win and not be threatened in the process. Cory landed all seven of his takedown attempts, good for a ridiculous 19:38 worth of control time. He had no less than 2:43 worth of control time in each of the five rounds. Sandhagen never really threatened to end the bout other than a late choke, but that's irrelevant. Cory was set to be roughly a +250 underdog against his originally scheduled opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov. The late-notice change to Font couldn't have worked out better for Sandhagen. He picked up a shockingly easy victory and called for the winner of the upcoming UFC Bantamweight Championship fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley in the process. Cory might get his wish. It's worth noting he fought Sterling back in June 2020, with Aljo winning in 88 seconds via submission.
The crowd in Nashville wasn't thrilled with Sandhagen's grappling-oriented game plan, but he did what was necessary to ensure he would cruise to a win and not be threatened in the process. Cory landed all seven of his takedown attempts, good for a ridiculous 19:38 worth of control time. He had no less than 2:43 worth of control time in each of the five rounds. Sandhagen never really threatened to end the bout other than a late choke, but that's irrelevant. Cory was set to be roughly a +250 underdog against his originally scheduled opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov. The late-notice change to Font couldn't have worked out better for Sandhagen. He picked up a shockingly easy victory and called for the winner of the upcoming UFC Bantamweight Championship fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley in the process. Cory might get his wish. It's worth noting he fought Sterling back in June 2020, with Aljo winning in 88 seconds via submission.