UFC Abu Dhabi is set to see top Bantamweights collide as Corey Sandhagen will face Umar Nurmagomedov.
The bout will serve as the Fight Night’s main event as the number nine ranked Nurmagomedov looks to leapfrog the rest of the division and claim his biggest scalp to date in the form of the number two ranked Sandhagen.
Set for August 3, the bout is the first that has been officially announced for the Etihad Arena for the Fight Night.
Sandhagen is no stranger to taking on tough opposition and is currently riding a three fight win streak. Having first signed for the UFC in 2018, ‘Sandman’ went on a five fight tear, picking up wins against Austin Arnett, Iuri Alcantara, Mario Bautista, John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao. This led to clash against former Bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, in a bout many saw as a number one contender fight. Sandhagen came up short and was submitted for the first time in his career in the very first round of the matchup. However, Sandhagen got straight back to winning ways just four months later when he landed a highlight reel wheel kick knock out against Marlon Moraes. He then added to his highlight reel once when he came up against MMA legend Frankie Edgar and caught Edgar with a flying knee early in the first round.
He then went to war with T.J Dillashaw just five months later and in a close five round affair, Sandhagen was dropped a razor close split decision, with the scorecards reading 48-47, 47-48, 47-48. He was then handed back to back defeats when he was handed a unanimous decision loss to Petr Yan for the interim Bantamweight belt at UFC 267. Since the loss, Sandhagen has competed three times, beating Yadong Song, Marlon Vera and Rob Font.
Sandhagen is undoubtedly the biggest challenge of the unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov’s career, so far. Having built a solid 12-0 record away from the promotion, including two victories in the PFL Smart Cage, before joining the UFC in 2021. Since then, the Russian has finished three of his five opponents. In his promotional debut, Nurmagomedov’s grappling prowess was on display for all to see, when he submitted Sergey Morozov in the second round of the Bantamweight contest. It was over a year before he made the walk again and ended up in the octagon for only a little over three minutes with another submission victory, this time, against Brian Kelleher. Trying to keep active, Nurmagomedov returned to the octagon three months later to claim a unanimous decision win against Nate Maness. He then made the walk twice in 2023, beating Raoni Barcelos and Bekzat Almakhan
He was originally meant to meet Sandhagen in August 2023, but Nurmagomedov had to withdraw due to injury.
