Top bantamweight contenders collide when Cory Sandhagen faces Umar Nurmagomedov in a title eliminator fight in Abu Dhabi.
Sandhagen (17-4) won titles in kickboxing before transitioning to MMA. "The Sandman" is 10-3 in the UFC and is on a three-fight win streak. It is his first fight in a year, as he tore his right triceps against Rob Font in August 2023.
Umar (17-0) is the cousin of former UFC lightweight champion and Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov. A 2015 Combat Sambo gold medalist, Nurmagomedov is 6-0 in the UFC. He has seven wins via submission and looks to go 2-0 in 2024.
The two were supposed to fight in 2023, but a shoulder injury forced Nurmagomedov out of action. Sandhagen faces someone who averages 4.51 takedowns landed per 15 minutes. He averages 1.36 takedowns landed but believes he can make it a difficult fight for Umar, whether on the floor or by the cage.
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“It’s going to be a pain in the a-- of a fight, to be honest with you,” Sandhagen said Wednesday on The MMA Hour . “It’s going to be a tough one. I’m ready for whatever. No one’s gotten to see my grappling. I know that’s going to be something that people talk about, but that’d be a fun thing for me to be able to show off because I do work with Ryan Hall, and it’s a really unique style, and I think it’s going to be a pain in the a-- for him to have to deal with.
“The amount of space that he leaves is going to be a pain in the a-- to deal with, but I’ll figure it out. And yeah, I trained ten weeks already for him, and I’m about to hop into another 12-week training camp, so I’ll have some really good answers for things.”
Here’s how you can watch UFC Abu Dhabi, including streaming options and TV channel to catch the prelims and the main card.
How to watch UFC Abu Dhabi for free
The prelims, starting at 12 p.m. ET, will air on ESPN+ .
The UFC Abu Dhabi main card is available on ESPN+ and ABC in the U.S. It will also be streamed via Fubo which offers a free trial .
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