While Cory Sandhagen prefers to look forward, he can`t help but harbor some regrets regarding the outcome of his recent fight against Umar Nurmagomedov.
He ultimately lost the bout via unanimous decision to the skilled Russian bantamweight. Although Sandhagen acknowledges Nurmagomedov`s strong performance, he also holds himself accountable for what went wrong that night. According to Sandhagen, he believes he overcomplicated his approach and strategy instead of simply reacting naturally to the unfolding action in the octagon.
“Looking back at the fight with Umar, I feel like frustration partly led to that loss,” Sandhagen explained in an interview. “I went into it with the expectation that he would be very difficult to land strikes on. Instead of just accepting that as a possibility, it made me more frustrated because I felt like, `I`ve trained so hard to be able to hit a tough opponent, and it`s still not working,` and that kind of created a negative cycle.”
He added, “I think whenever you deviate from your true, natural method of winning, things often don`t go well when facing top competitors in the world. I think I tried to overcorrect in that fight because I knew the scoring would be tight. I know that if anyone takes me down, I`m confident I can get back up. So I felt those aspects would neutralize each other. I believed much of the fight would come down to who landed the more impactful strikes, at least that was my initial thought.”
Sandhagen recognizes that he failed to engage with Nurmagomedov in a manner that would allow him to exploit openings as they appeared during the fight, which ultimately proved costly.
“Where I should have just stuck to my regular game plan of applying sound martial arts until they make an error, and then capitalize on it, instead I was using semi-effective martial arts and trying to force opportunities that weren`t there,” Sandhagen stated. “Because trying to force things that aren`t naturally present against skilled opponents simply doesn`t work. So, frustration was a significant factor in that loss.”
“I`m still kicking myself when I watch it, because even though it was scored like four rounds to one or similar, every single round was incredibly close. If I had just changed a couple of small things, I would have won. That seems to be my recurring theme. I`m very good at coming close to winning these fights, so I need to figure out how to actually secure these tight rounds. That`s what I`ve been concentrating on.”
If there`s a silver lining to such a disappointing defeat, it`s that Sandhagen is determined to prevent a similar outcome from appearing on his record again.
He is scheduled to headline the UFC Des Moines event on May 3rd against Deiveson Figueiredo, and Sandhagen promises he will hold nothing back in this upcoming contest.
“I believe I`m really going to push myself to go out there and emphatically finish this fight,” Sandhagen declared. “I`ve been training with the goal of dominating opponents. I`ve been working incredibly hard since the last fight, training with Trevor Wittman and significantly improving my grappling with my wrestling and jiu-jitsu coaches.”
“I feel like many aspects of my game have truly come together because I`ve been working relentlessly, mainly because I absolutely despise losing. I`m extremely eager to go out there and truly showcase my abilities.”
Sandhagen feels that he hasn`t delivered a truly spectacular performance in recent years, which he finds frustrating.
This feeling only intensifies his drive to put on an impressive show against Figueiredo and erase the memory of recent less-than-ideal performances.
“I haven`t had a really good win in quite some time,” Sandhagen admitted. “My last victory was against Rob Font, which came after I tore my tricep, and I received a lot of criticism for it. Before that, it was `Chito` Vera, and my ego misses the feeling of being seen as `the man` in the MMA world for a few weeks. I`m hoping to experience that again, even if just for a little while.”
As if he needed any more motivation, Sandhagen knows his fight is approximately one month before the bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. If he succeeds in executing his plan, Sandhagen anticipates that his performance will signal to the UFC that he is the rightful next challenger for the title.
“I can`t express how excited I am,” Sandhagen said. “I genuinely want to shine, and I believe I am now a good enough performer to just go out there and fully execute my plan without hindrance. I`m not going to let anything stop me in this one. I definitely think I will be able to finish Figueiredo. I believe I will show up as the best version of myself that I have ever been.”
“I think I`m going to look like a true champion in the cage, to the point where the UFC will be compelled to give me a title shot after this fight, simply based on how impressive I intend to look. I`m pumped.”
