Cory Sandhagen wants to up the challenge in the Umar Nurmagomedov clash.
“The Sandman” thumbed up Umar’s proposition of their earlier fight to be rebooked. The pair were originally slated to square off at UFC Fight Night 226 in August last year but after Umar withdrew citing shoulder injury, Sandhagen headlined the event with Rob Font, winning via unanimous decision.
Umar, meanwhile, returned to action earlier this month on the UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev event, defeating Bekzat Almakhan unanimously. Following the win, the Russian called for the Sandhagen fight to be rebooked next.
Cory Sandhagen feels he’s a five round fighter
Sandhagen has not only accepted the challenge but also wants their much-awaited bout to be a 25 minute fight. Speaking to Fanatics View in a recent interview, the 3rd ranked UFC bantamweight stated that he’s ready to go five rounds against Umar.
“That’s what I asked for,” said Sandhagen. “I feel like I’m a five-round fighter. I do better in five-round fights. The pace that I feel I could be able to push in a three rounder, especially after doing five rounds for the last two or three years of my life, would be maybe enjoyable. I think it would be cool to push the pace that high. If this is a three rounder, I feel like camp is going to be a lot easier.”
“It’s not really going to be, but maybe the level of physical getting beat up is going to be less because I don’t need to do seven, eight rounds when I’m sparring if I’m doing a three-round fight. That would kind of mess up the pace in which I would fight at anyways. Yeah, he definitely was breathing hard. He definitely showed a vulnerability, and that’s definitely not something you want to do,” he added.
Sandhagen doesn’t want to fight Umar in the Middle East
Continuing the conversation about the Umar fight, Sandhagen insisted that he would prefer the five round fight against Umar Nurmagomedov not take place in the Middle East, even though the UFC has two bouts scheduled in the region this year- June 22 one in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia on 22nd June and the next one on 3rd August in Abu Dhabi.
“I don’t know that I should have to go to the other side of the world to fight. I’m giving him a shot. That’s what it feels like. I am the guy giving him the platform to show that he deserves to fight for the belt next, and, no, I don’t really love the idea of going halfway across the world so that he can have an advantage,” added Sandhagen. [H/T MMA Junkie]
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