UFC Nashville headliner will feature Cory Sandhagen – Umar Nurmagomedov

Mar 25, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Cory Sandhagen (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Marlon Vera (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Meullion-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight, the UFC took center stage on social media once again as they announced three massive main events for upcoming cards. Kicking things off on August 5th, the promotion heads to Nashville and they have a featured bout in the bantamweight division on top of the card.

Dana White announced that former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen (16-4) will take on the unbeaten and largely unchallenged Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0). This bout will likely be a title eliminator with the winner being in line for a shot at the winner of Sean O’Malley – Aljamain Sterling which takes place just a week later.

For Nurmagomedov, the last time we saw him was back in January when he took on Raoni Barcelos. He knocked him out in the first round which really showed a new wrinkle in his game. Overall, Nurmagomedov is 4-0 in the UFC.

UFC Nashville

Long considered one of the best fighters in the promotion to not have captured a title, Cory Sandhagen perhaps finds himself just one win away from another shot at the title. He fought and lost to Petr Yan for the interim title in 2021.

Since that loss, he’s had two incredibly impressive wins over Song Yadong and Chito Vera. Vera was on the rise and many saw him as a guy who would jump to a UFC title shot. However, Sandhagen halted all his momentum with a decisive decision win in their headliner back in March.

Now, he’s taking on another dangerous surging top contender. If Sandhagen puts on another show, it’s going to be hard to deny him a UFC title shot.

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