Umar Nurmagomedov recently put on a stellar performance against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi. The Dagestani had Khabib Nurmagomedov guiding him at his corner. Nurmagomedov recently revealed the advice he got from the former undefeated UFC lightweight champion in the middle of the fight.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is Umar’s cousin and head coach of Team Khabib. After the third round of the fight, ‘Young Eagle’ went to his corner, where he received some valuable advice. Apparently, the former UFC champion told Nurmagomedov not to show any weakness and that it was just the beginning of the fight.
After the third round, Khabib cornered me and he said, ‘Now is the beginning of rounds and you have to be strong, don’t show weakness, ‘You have to be strong. Go ahead and take this victory, press him, push him, don’t lose any second.
Umar Nurmagomedov during UFC Abu Dhabi Post-fight press conference
Umar Nurmagomedov scored a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi. It was an intense fight but Nurmagomedov managed to secure multiple takedowns and attempted submissions. Meanwhile, Sandhagen defended well and landed a good number of strikes.
The judges scored the bout 50-45, 49-46, and 49-46 in favor of Nurmagomedov. With this fight, Nurmagomedov scored six consecutive wins in the promotion. However, the Dagestani was not satisfied with his performance. He was happy he won, but not in the way that he did.
Umar Nurmagomedov was not happy with his performance at UFC Abu Dhabi
Cory Sandhagen ranks #2 in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings. UFC Abu Dhabi was a big fight for Umar Nurmagomedov. Although he secured the win and will likely step up for the bantamweight title in his upcoming matchups, the Dagestani was not happy with the way he handled Sandhagen.
Khabib and Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC on ABC 7 (Source: UFC.go.com)Nurmagomedov won four of the five rounds on every judge’s scorecard. However, the undefeated Dagestani was not happy with the way Sandhagen was able to dismantle his wrestling and grapple with him in the octagon. He talked about it at the post-fight press conference.
I’m not happy. It was a good performance on the striking, but if you’re talking about grappling and how I controlled him, it was not good.
Umar Nurmagomedov during UFC Abu Dhabi Post-fight press conference
Nurmagomedov said that he expected better from himself. He thought he would “maul” Sandhagen on the ground. But he found the #2 bantamweight to be “a tough man” with “hard kicks”. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how the Dagestani overcomes his shortcomings in his future matchups which could potentially be a title shot at the bantamweight belt.
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