The main event of UFC Nashville, which will take place this weekend, will feature a last-minute matchup between Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font. “The Sandman” was supposed to face Umar Nurmagomedov, a rising star in the bantamweight division, but the Dagestani fighter had to pull out of the fight because of an injury.
Some people were taken aback by Sandhagen’s decision to accept a fight against Nurmagomedov, given that ‘The Sandman’ is placed seven places higher than Sandhagen in the UFC rankings. Sean O’Malley voiced his disagreement with Sandhagen’s choice, stating that he believed it to be an example of “poor management” on Sandhagen’s behalf.
SHAK MMA conducted an interview with Cory Sandhagen in the days leading up to the weekend bout between he and Rob Font. ‘The Sandman’ was asked to comment on Sean O’Malley’s remarks, and the former interim-title challenger responded by expressing his confusion with ‘Sugar’s’ frame of mind:
“There are aspects about Sean O’Malley that, to me, are simply so incredibly uninteresting. Conversations included topics such as taking on the most dangerous opponent for the greatest sum of money. Everything is decided based on business considerations. That way of thinking is completely foreign to me and I can’t relate to it in any way. In my opinion, those are both feeble ways of thinking as well as methods of thinking that will eventually lead to the sport being harmed to some degree as a result of their influence. You should strive to compete against the most skilled opponents. If you came all the way here to become the real world champion, then that’s exactly what we’re going to help you do. I don’t consider this to be a business at all…”
Watch the video starting at 11:15 down below:
At UFC 292, which will take place in two weeks, the bantamweight championship fight between Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling is scheduled to take place. In the event that O’Malley is victorious over Sterling at the end of this month, “Sugar” has stated that Cory Sandhagen will not be offered a shot at the title.
On the other hand, if O’Malley puts on a great performance against a formidable adversary like Rob Font, the UFC matchmakers may not have much of a choice but to pit him against Sandhagen.
Cory Sandhagen makes his case for a title shot with a win over Rob Font
Cory Sandhagen thinks that a victory against Rob Font at this weekend’s UFC Nashville event should be enough to earn him a coveted title chance against the winner of the fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, which is scheduled to be the main event at UFC 292.
After suffering a defeat in an interim title bout against Petr Yan at UFC 267, Sandhagen quickly got back on his feet with two outstanding performances against Song Yadong and Marlon Vera. “The Sandman” believes that if he were to win his third match in a row, it would establish him as the clear-cut leading contender for a shot at the title.
Sandhagen made these comments in a recent interview with Mike Bohn, and they are as follows:
Who else, in your opinion, should have a shot at the title? Merab Dvalishvili, without a doubt; nonetheless, he won’t be fighting Aljamain… Cejudo was given a priceless present in the form of a title shot after he had retired from the sport… If I go out there and win a battle against another strong and experienced fighter in my division, then I believe that I will be the next contender for the championship.
