Cory Sandhagen Unlocked Something New

A Year Since His Last Fight, An Inspired Cory Sandhagen Hopes To Kickstart His Run To The Bantamweight Title With A Win At UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov

By Zac Pacleb • Jul. 29, 2024

Cory Sandhagen had just sparred for six 5-minute rounds when he sits down for a half-hour with UFC.com at ONX Sports outside of Denver, Colorado. At the time, his main event with Umar Nurmagomedov on August 3 was about three weeks away, leaving him about another week of multiple workouts a day before tapering off and heading to Abu Dhabi.

So, when he gets asked how he’s feeling, his answer is both tongue-in-cheek and incredibly real.

“I'm feeling kind of like s*** (laughs),” Sandhagen said. “I'm just…