Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov, UFC Abu Dhabi Credit: Youtube/UFC
The main event at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday pitted Cory Sandhagen against Umar Nurmagomedov in a bantamweight bout that was all but guaranteed the winner a title shot.
These things are never certain, but Sean O’Malley is due to face Merab Dvalishvili next month and if all goes to plan, the winner will be in position to attack.
Sandhagen started the fight by attacking the center of the cage, but Nurmagomedov grabbed one of his legs and briefly got behind him. Sandhagen calmly escaped and continued to pressure Nurmagomedov afterwards, displaying great takedown defense. It was clear early on how calm and collected Sandhagen was and how nervous and fidgety Nurmagomedov was. Nurmagomedov took Sandhagen down late in the first round, but nothing happened.
Sandhagen showed impressive grappling defense, fending off a back-take early in the second round before landing a hard right on Nurmagomedov. The two bantamweights traded mostly kicks to the legs and body. Nurmagomedov again managed to get Sandhagen back, but Sandhagen, thanks to his rounds with Ryan Hall, kept his cool and got to his feet.
The third round started very tensely, with both fighters winning with strikes but little action in the first three minutes. Sandhagen started the offense with kicks but Nurmagomedov had the upper hand overall. Nurmagomedov took Sandhagen down at the end of the round and got behind him again, but did not attempt a submission during the short time he was in control.
It was a very close fight through all three rounds.
The fight was very technical, with both fighters finding success with their strikes, but not many that did any real damage after three and a half rounds. Nurmagomedov’s level changed dramatically, allowing Sandhagen to take the back again in the fourth round. Nurmagomedov landed more, and arguably better, strikes and showed effective grappling, despite Sandhagen giving him a hard time. The scorecards going into the fifth round were all over social media.
Nurmagomedov looked nervous in the first round but emerged as the more confident fighter by the fifth round. He knocked Sandhagen down and was able to buy himself time to control the fight for the first time in the bout. Nurmagomedov dominated the bout and showed he is a true elite bantamweight fighter. A win over Sandhagen would see him rocket from No. 10 in the bantamweight rankings to No. 2 in the bantamweight rankings and put him in the running for the next title fight after Dvalishvili faces O’Malley next month.
Also of note, Umar Nurmagomedov improved to 18-0 with Saturday’s win.
Official result: Umar Nurmagomedov defeats Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
