LAS VEGAS – Cory Sandhagen took solace knowing he can hang with an elite grappler like Umar Nurmagomedov.
Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) lost a decision to Nurmagomedov last August in the UFC on ABC 7 headliner, but took a lot of positives as he heads into his title fight against bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 320 co-main event (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Sandhagen believes Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was the toughest test he’ll face in terms of fending off takedowns, which gives him confidence going into the Dvalishvili fight.
“I feel like Umar is equally, if not better than Merab at offensively wrestling,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie and other media at Wednesday’s media day. “So I get to go into this fight like not having any questions about whether I stack up in the wrestling.
“Umar was definitely one of the better wrestlers that I was ever going to face, and it was kind of at the time when the Dagestanis were really scary guys, that narrative, and it f*cked with me. Now I get to go into this one with some actual evidence that I can wrestle with the best of them. So go out and do your thing.”
After beating Sandhagen, Nurmagomedov lost a close fight to Dvalishvili at UFC 311. He will look to rebound when he takes on Mario Bautista at UFC 321 on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s a tough fight, honestly, for both of them,” Sandhagen said. “Mario’s like no joke. He’s still making a name for himself, but that guy is definitely no joke. I still have Umar winning that fight, but it wouldn’t be a shocking win if Mario won that one.”
