Ahead of his huge essential event against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Abu Dhabi this coming Saturday, Cory Sandhagen has revealed that he can have a brand new face in his corner.
Since losing to Petr Yan in 2021, Cory Sandhagen has gone on to win three fights in a row, along with his last coming against Rob Font last August.
Many believed that the 32-year-old deserved to go on to fight for the bantamweight title, however the promotion as a substitute decided that Sean O’Malley would defend his title against Marlon Vera.
Cory Sandhagen will welcome a brand new coach into his corner for UFC Abu Dhabi fight
Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov were originally scheduled to fight last August, however the Russian prospect withdrew just a couple of weeks out.
Their fight this coming weekend is considered a primary contender fight, with the winner expected to fight against the winner of O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili.
The ‘Sandman’ is one of the well-rounded fighters within the division, and ahead of this Saturday’s clash, Sandhagen has sought the help of one of the renowned coaches in the game, Trevor Wittman.
“I’ve been with Trevor for about 4 months now. Working with Trevor has been great, he’s super impressive, he really knows the right way to work with the athletes on the technical strategic side of things, I haven’t met anyone higher, truthfully,” Sandhagen told MMAJunkie.
“Yeah, all three of those guys are going to be in my corner (Trevor Wittman, Carrington Banks, and Ryan Hall),” Sandhagen confirmed.
Wittman has been answerable for head coaching former UFC champions, Rose Namajunas, Justin Gaethje, and Kamaru Usman. Sandhagen, in actual fact, helped Gaethje prepare for his UFC 300 fight against Max Holloway.
Wittman will likely be helping break down the puzzle that’s Nurmagomedov, as 18 have previously tried, but all have failed.
Sandhagen is expecting that Nurmagomedov will attempt to stand with him for some time, before shooting for a takedown.
“I feel he’s going to face for a bit of bit, I don’t really know his strategy in fact I’m going to be ready for anything but I feel that he’s going to maintain it standing for a bit of bit, in that wrestling like that could be very energy taxing and it’s his first five-round fight and that’s something he’s got to take into consideration.”
Sandhagen rooting for O’Malley to beat Dvalishvili to establish desired fight
With O’Malley scheduled to tackle Merab at UFC 306 in September, Sandhagen is hopeful that ‘Suga’ will successfully defend his title in order that he can finally share the cage with him, because it is a fight the fans want.
‘Sandman’ admitted that he would hopefully be in attendance for the spectacle, even just as a spectator, as it will take numerous money for him to comply with be a backup.
“I would like to see who I’m fighting after. I don’t know, it’d need to be for numerous money (for me to be a backup).
“Definitely rooting for O’Malley I feel that that’s the larger fight, that’s a fight that individuals have been asking for for eternally. I feel if me and him go right into a cage it’s going to be fireworks, it’s going to be so technical… that’s what the fans need to see really really bad, so I’m gonna get this win, O’Malley get yourself a win after which we’ll give the fans what they’ve been asking for for years,” Sandhagen added.
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