While his teammates were going home from basketball practice, Cory Sandhagen was just getting started.
The year was 2010, and Sandhagen was a senior on the Smoky Hill High School hoops team. But basketball was getting stale, and he wanted a new challenge. So he decided to learn how to fight.
What followed was a daily commitment to learning jujutsu, striking and wrestling at a nearby MMA gym.
“All my teammates and coaches thought I was kind of crazy,” Sandhagen said. “MMA wasn’t as cool then as it is now. So, yeah, everyone at the time pretty much thought that I was a weirdo.”
Little did his classmates know, Sandhagen was just starting to tap into his calling.
Sandhagen (17-4-0) is fighting in the main event this weekend at UFC Abu Dhabi, a bantamweight title eliminator bout against Umar Nurmagomedov. Whoever wins will get a crack at the belt, likely sometime early in 2025, against either Sean O’Malley (the current title holder) or Merab Dvalishvili (who fights O’Malley in September at UFC 306).
For Sandhagen, a Castle Rock resident who is also a CU alum, a win over the undefeated Nurmagomedov (17-0, 5-0 in the UFC) would be the latest highlight in a strong career that’s had a few speedbumps.
“I came out the gate really hot, winning a lot, then lost one to the former champion (Aljamain Sterling in 2020), then won some more, then lost to (TJ Dillashaw) and the interim title bout (to Petr Yan),” Sandhagen said. “But I’ve been on a winning streak since. So I would say my whole career has been up and down, sort of falling and then rising again. It’s been tough, but really good.”
In the matchup against Nurmagomedov, the Coloradan’s elite striking ability will be contrasted by the Russian’s wrestling prowess. To get ready for the fight, Sandhagen worked on his grappling with his head coach, Carrington Banks, in addition to training with renowned striking coach Trevor Wittman.
“Umar has a very accoladed wrestling background that’s going to really test me,” Sandhagen said. “No one’s really seen that set of skills on me yet, so I’m going to have to use them in this fight and show people that I’m good in that aspect as well.”
Sandhagen’s current three-fight win streak includes a TKO over Song Yadong in September 2022, a split decision over Marlon Vera in March 2023 and a unanimous decision over Rob Font last August. In that latter victory, Sandhagen suffered a torn right tricep in the first round, leading him to take a wrestling-heavy approach with seven takedowns and a lot of time spent maintaining top control.
After a year off, Sandhagen is healthy again. And he has tunnel vision on beating Nurmagomedov, knowing full well from the defeat in his last fight with major implications — the loss to Yan in 2021 — that there can be no looking past the job to do in Abu Dhabi.
“It takes time and experience to get good at martial arts, and I’ve been gathering a bunch of that, working hard, and it’s coming to a head now,” Sandhagen said. “I remain steadfastly focused on this Saturday.”
