Cory Sandhagen said he’s willing to get his fight against Umar Nurmagomedov to be rebooked on a few conditions.
Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov were originally scheduled to meet in August last year, but Nurmagomedov withdrew due to an injury. As such, the fighter was placed by Rob Font, whom Sandhagen defeated via a unanimous decision. After that, “Sandman” expressed a lack of interest in the idea of getting the Nurmagomedov bout to be rebooked.
“If you want to talk about a fair circumstance, I think that is pretty fair,” Sandhagen said last November. “If we were on the same plane, going into that last one before he pulled out, which we weren’t, but I took the fight because I wanted a No. 1 contender fight.
“If we were on the same plane then and then I just racked a win against another really tough guy, with a first-round injury and still dominated, I don’t really see us being on the same plane anymore. I think that he needs one or two more wins, I think him getting hurt was a bummer for him because I don’t really know how many other guys are going to step up.”
Interestingly, the No. 3 bantamweight recently said that he could reconsider the fight if it would be a No. 1 contender fight. Additionally, Sandhagen believes the fellow fighter has to prove it in his upcoming March 2 match against Bekzat Almakhan.
“…When I talked to the UFC initially, and they brought that up, I was pretty much like, ‘Hey, just give me a little time to think and sit with that one,’ because if that’s what you guys are telling me is going to be for the title next, then absolutely,” Sandhagen shared in his recent interview with MMA on SiriusXM. “But if that’s not going to be the situation, then the rankings matter a little bit – or at least they kind of do.
“Where I stand with Umar now is if he gets a good win on March 2, and he looks good, and he does awesome, and they don’t give me the title shot next, do me and Umar at International Fight Week,” Sandhagen said. “Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to have happened before that happens, but I’m still open to Umar.”
Luckily for Sandhagen, Marlon Vera, who is set to challenge bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley at UFC 299, is eyeing him. According to “Chito,” if he wins, he wants to defend the gold against Sandhagen in a rematch.
“I will ask for Sandhagen because he beat me,” Vera said. “That’s the only reason I will choose that fight,” said Vera last month. “…I want to kick Cory’s ass. I know his dorky ass is crying about it, but it’s not my fault no one gives a f*ck about him.”
