UFC top bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen doesnt know why Umar Nurmagomedov is ranked so high despite not having any top level fights.
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour show, Sandhagen blasted Nurmagomedov for having “famous guy leverage.”
“There’s famous guy leverage with Umar Nurmagomedov. I’m trying to acquire some famous guy leverage. I think I should start hanging out with rappers and you know, maybe making myself look less like a normal dude than what I do already. Maybe that’ll be my 2024 rebrand. Get some tattoos on my face, I’ll color myself, and I’ll start hanging out with some rappers…It’s just the nature of the sport.
Sandhagen continued to rip into Nurmagomedov and said he wasn’t interested in rebooking their fight that was scratched off back in August.
“The Umar one was a little bit of a tough one,” “I was playing ball for the UFC, giving him a shot when he’s only four fights into his career and the guy pulls out of more fights than he’s been in. That’s just the truth of the matter.
“When you’re talking like, ‘Hey, I make a lot of money for these fights, these fights are really important and he pulls out of a lot of fights,’ that’s a little bit of a tough sell for me — and also, he’s way, way down in the rankings. I’ve been in the top five for the last three or four years of my career, and Umar is just entering in and I’m on a three-fight win streak, so it was a tough sell, but I played ball with him. I’m not fighting him next. Good luck in his next one.”
Cory Sandhagen talks about "trying to acquire some famous guy leverage" in 2024.
"Maybe I should start hanging out with some rappers… I'll get some tattoos on my face."
▶️ https://t.co/UNAl0Euqtv #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/ZuUlhHq6jj
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 31, 2024
As of now, it’s unclear who Cory or Umar will fight next in the division.
