Cory Sandhagen still believes he has what it takes to win UFC championship gold.
Despite suffering a crushing decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in their no. 1 contender match-up last August, 32-year-old Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) believes he is not far away from earning a shot at glory.
Speaking during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show ahead of his upcoming fight against Deiveson Figueiredo on May 3rd, "Sandman" explained how watching Nurmagomedov come up short against the division's champion Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January showed him that he isn't as far away from the top as some would think.
"Especially after watching Umar and Merab, I was like, 'Ah, man, like you can definitely do it, you know", he told Helwani. "And I knew that I could always be champ, like I'm one of those guys that kind of lives in the delusion of thinking that he can do pretty much whatever he can or wants to as long as he works hard enough at it. So, I definitely have always known that I can be champ".
"It's Right At My Fingertips"
Sandhagen has enjoyed a solid career in the upper echelons of the 135 pound division, but has come unstuck on a number of occassions when facing future or former champions. Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan and T.J Dillashaw have all beaten the Colorado native, but remains undeterred and still believes he can wear a UFC championship belt around his waist before all is said and done in his competitive career.
"After kind of watching Umar and Marab, and then the way that kind of Umar and Merab went, I just uh, you know, I'm so in that mix. I just kind of need to have my couple of nights where I really perform and show out, and I can easily be there. It's just like right at the fingertips, you know? And I kind of feel like I'm at the beginning of my peak years and they don't last very long, so I'm trying to really, get everything going in these last couple years that I've got left".
