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“Who the Hell Is That Little Guy”: Days After Losing Umar Nurmagomedov as an Opponent, Cory Sandhagen’s Reality in the Gym Is Brought to Light by Former UFC Fighter

Published 07/23/2023, 9:42 AM EDT

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Cory Sandhagen is gearing up to prove his mettle at UFC Nashville on August 5. In the lead-up to the event, the main event encountered a twist of fate when Umar Nurmagomedov had to withdraw from the fight due to a shoulder injury. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Rob Font stepped in as a replacement.

31-year-old Sandhagen strides into this upcoming battle on the back of a two-fight winning streak, having conquered formidable opponents in Marlon Vera and Song Yadong. The #4 bantamweight seeks to claim a hat-trick of victories and is eager to rise even higher in the bantamweight division rankings.

via Imago

 

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The showdown between ‘Sandman’ and Font will take place at a catchweight of 140 pounds, adding an element of surprise and excitement to the highly anticipated contest. Approaching the big fight, a remarkable story about ‘Sandman’ has emerged, revealing just how formidable a fighter he truly is.

Cory Sandhagen left the AKA fighters in shock

Cory Sandhagen’s name became a hot topic of discussion on the WEIGHING IN podcast, hosted by veteran referee John McCarthy and retired MMA fighter, Josh Thomson. As they delved into the Aurora native’s upcoming bout, Thomson recounted an intriguing story about him.

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Thomson shared, “I heard stories of fighters that trained at AKA. And they said, ‘Yeah, you know, I was training out there wherever Cory trains,'”

He continued, “So he’s like, ‘Yeah, two AKA guys went out there and they were training, they were just doing some sparring. These guys are good wrestlers…” They were training and they go, ‘Who the hell is that little guy right there? F**king piecing me up.’ This was before they had known who Cory was in the UFC.”

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The 44-year-old then said, “Probably like a couple of months later they saw him fighting in the UFC like, ‘Yeah, it makes sense.'”

With such stories of Sandhagen’s skill and prowess preceding him, it’s evident that his opponent, Rob Font, is coming prepared for the fight. Font, coming off a solid opening-round knockout victory against Adrian Yanez, will be eager to halt Sandhagen’s quest for a hat-trick of wins.

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Whom are you favoring in Sandhagen vs. Font? Let us know your thoughts on this upcoming fight in the comments below.

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Written by:

Mayur Soni

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Mayur Soni is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His journey as an MMA fan started with Conor McGregor’s historic 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo in 2015, which sparked his love for the sport. Since then, he has closely followed the sport and gained an in-depth understanding of its nuances, which reflects in his insightful and analytical writing.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen