Cory Sandhagen: Another shot at a marquee win
The perennial contender, Cory Sandhagen is back in action.
He takes on the former flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, in the main event of UFC Des Moines. Coming off of his loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, “The Sandman” is looking to get back to his contender ways.
It’s now or never for Elevation Fight Team’s bantamweight contender. But Figueiredo, who is coming off of a loss himself, is looking for his own way back in. The stakes are high.
Cory Sandhagen: Almost isn’t good enough
Cory Sandhagen has almost fought for the title. But almost doesn’t count. Every time he gets close, something happens. Aljamain Sterling choked him out. TJ Dillashaw eeked out a win. Petr Yan, he put “The Sandman” back into the contender bin as well. Most recently, Umar Nurmagomedov defeated Sandhagen via decision and challenged for the title.
Nearly every great fighter that the 33-year-old has fought, with the exception of late career Frankie Edgar, has beat Sandhagen. But he’s not outclassed in any of them with the exception of the early-career loss to Sterling.
Cory Sandhagen has gone toe to toe with all of these names, giving great accounts of himself, and even having fans call “robbery” in matches like the one against TJ Dillashaw.
Cory Sandhagen is consistently great, just not elite.
Second (Third? Fourth?) Chances
Everyone knows Cory Sandhagen is talented. Everyone knows he can compete with the best. He just can’t seem to beat the best, which is unfortunate. In a division like bantamweight, where the best encompasses 4 or 5 fighters, that doesn’t get you to a title shot.
This weekend is another shot at the elite. Deiveson Figueiredo has been there, he’s been champion. He’s beat the best in the world. While he did drop his last fight to Petr Yan, his wins over Alexandre Pantoja, Joseph Benavidez, and Brandon Moreno at flyweight still hold weight.
Cory Sandhagen doesn’t have a win as good as any three of those. This weekend he can finally grab one.
