[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] raised his hand on Saturday, which was the top priority, but he’s not too thrilled with how he accomplished that.
The undefeated bantamweight is disappointed that he wasn’t able to be dominant in the fight department against Cory Sandhagen, who he defeated via unanimous decision in Saturday’s main event. UFC on ABC 7 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Nurmagomeov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) had his moment on the ground, but Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) proved to be a tough challenge and defended many of his takedown attempts and ground attacks.
“I’m not happy,” Nurmagomedov told reporters in the UFC on ABC 7 post-fight interview. “It was a good striking performance, but if we talk about grappling and control, it wasn’t good.
“I thought about hitting him on the ground, but he’s tough, he’s good. Cody is very good and has strong kicks, and he is a tough man. I think he has more experience than me in the UFC cage, but I won, and I’m happy I did.”
After defeating Sandhagen, Nurmagomedov took the microphone and called for the next title fight against the winner of Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili on September 14 at Noche UFC. Nurmagomedov plans to be at the Sphere in Las Vegas for the fight and doesn’t care who wins.
“Yes, I’m planning on going to the fight, but I don’t want to name one guy or another because I don’t want the other guy to think I’m trying to avoid fighting him,” Nurmagomedov explained. . “So yes, of course, I would be happy to fight both, but the goal is to fight the winner.”
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This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Umar Nurmagomedov disappointed in first UFC main fight, must ‘mistreat’ Cory Sandhagen on the ground
