Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov Predictions

• Where: Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• When: Saturday, August 3, 9 pm CET

The main event of the UFC Abu Dhabi is the bantamweight battle between the former interim contender, Cory Sandhagen, and the new force on the horizon, Umar Nurmagomedov. The odds favor the younger Russian, who was perfect so far in his UFC career. It is expected that if Umar manages to beat Sandhagen here, his next stop will be the title belt. On the other side, Sandman has his plans. A victory here would undoubtedly give him another opportunity to attack the belt.

Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov Preview

Cory Sandhagen

Cory Sandhagen is the second-ranked fighter in the UFC bantamweight division, currently holding a record of 17 wins and four losses, three of which were in the UFC. Two of them came in 2021, when he suffered a split decision defeat to TJ Dillashaw and, after that, to Petr Yan in the fight for the UFC bantamweight interim event. His third defeat was to Aljamain Sterling in 2020.

However, Sandman recovered nicely after this, posting three straight victories, one against Song Yadong, one vs. Marlon Vera, and eventually against Rob Font in August last year.

Sandman is an eclectic striker whose combinations and series are extremely attractive. He mixes leg kicks and hand punches with so much creativity and variation that we can say there isn’t a better in the division than him in this area. But when talking about wrestling, he is below average, which eventually cost him all those losses in the past.

Umar Nurmagomedov

The 28-year-old Khabib’s cousin follows the path of his famous relative and currently has 17 straight victories in MMA. Umar has two wins via KO, seven after a submission, and eight following a decision. His last battle was in March this year when he defeated Bekzat Almakhan via a unanimous decision.

He is a dominant wrestler—for many, the best in the division and even better than Sterling. From what we saw in the past, Umar looks impressive, though we can’t say that he ever got tested properly. He had four UFC rivals before Almakhan: Sergey Morozov, Brian Kelleher, Nate Manness, and Raoni Barcelos. None of these names means anything in the UFC world.

Nurmagomedov’s strength is tremendous, particularly on the mat, though he isn’t that confident on his feet when it comes to hitting and hurting his rivals. This event will be his first major test, and if he passes it, Dana White won’t wait for one moment to throw him into the fire right away.

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Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov Predictions

Sandhagen has massive problems with wrestlers, and we saw that in the past, with all three of his losses coming because he couldn’t defend takedowns or defend himself on the mat. But in this case, we will go against the odds and all the prognoses and bet on his victory simply because Nurmagomedov never met a fighter of such caliber. He doesn’t have the experience like Sandman, who fought in hostile environments before.

Our verdict: Sandhagen wins

Cory Sandhagen vs Umar Nurmagomedov Odds

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