If there’s anyone who goes with the flow on the list, it’s Cory Sandhagen.
There may not be a more laid-back fighter in UFC history, but he remains self-aware. Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) knows the position he’s in and the likely risks that will come with his main event fight on August 3 vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in Abu Dhabi.
Sandhagen doesn’t turn down opportunities, but he also recently told MMA Junkie that everything has a price. With this fight, Sandhagen enjoyed the gains.
“I don’t try to complain too much,” Sandhagen said. “I try not to have too many opinions. I only ask for more money if they want me to do things that I consider a little unreasonable, not that it was the most unreasonable request. It’s still going to be a main event in a really cool city. I might go to the Middle East again, which is fun for me. In fact, I’ll be able to explore the before and after a bit and arrive early to change my time zone, which I haven’t done the last few times. I’m still very excited about it. The last few times, the Abu Dhabi fans have been really amazing and fair. I didn’t feel like I was in enemy territory or anything the last few times. So yeah, I’m still excited about it.”
While the paycheck is certainly a big part of the fight negotiation equation, Sandhagen also revealed all the signs (from the UFC) that point to this fight being a title eliminator for him. Sandhagen is on a three-fight winning streak, consisting of victories over Song Yadong, Marlon Vera and Rob Font.
“Obviously, the first time I went to dinner with the UFC, they offered me Umar, and I thought, ‘That’s a little lower in the rankings.’ They said, ‘Well, it’ll be a No. 1 contender’s fight.’ I was like, ‘OK, sure.’ So obviously that one was scrapped (in August 2023 when Nurmagomedov withdrew). In that round, they conveyed to me that I don’t want to say the exact quote, but: ‘I don’t know how you won’t be next after Merab (Dvalishvili), if you win this fight.’ Besides, who else can actually do this? I also think Sean and I have a really big fight.”
The aforementioned fight between O’Malley and Dvalishvili does not yet have a date or location. Both fighters have indicated they will be ready for a fall showdown. Should Sandhagen earn a title fight in August, he hopes O’Malley will be the one standing alongside him in his first UFC title fight.
“I’ll be rooting for (Sean) O’Malley in the next one, just because the bigger the fight, the bigger the challenge, the better,” Sandhagen said. “I’ll be rooting for O’Malley and that’s something the fans really, really want to see. I really want to give the fans what they want. So yes, I hope that is the case. … I think they both have very, very difficult tasks ahead of them in very different ways. Merab definitely needs to be able to close that space better than he has demonstrated in the past. Then, O’Malley saved some of Sterling’s good shots. O’Malley can definitely fight too. But fighting this body type is kind of difficult.
“It’s a little strange, but it’s such a big gap that Merab will have to cover. It will be very difficult for him. It might take a while and obviously Sean is in great shape and can move his feet. We saw (this) in Chito’s fight too. I think Merab has his hands fuller than O’Malley, but Merab definitely has a lot of heart. He’s been looking forward to this world title for a long, long time, so it’s hard not to mention that too.”
