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UFC Nashville took a major hit last night as it was revealed that Umar Nurmagomedov would be out of his bantamweight headliner against Cory Sandhagen after suffering an injury during training. However, the show must go on and with Sandhagen currently without an opponent, here's a look at three alternate fighters he could face on short notice at UFC Nashville which takes place Aug. 5 at at Bridgestone Arena.
Petr Yan
If you told someone at the start of 2021 that Petr Yan would be on a three-fight losing streak, they'd think you were crazy. However, that's somehow the reality we're in as the Russian is coming off back-to-back-to-back defeats to Aljamain Sterling, Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili even if many feel he should have won two of those three fights. Overall, he's lost four of his last five (if you include the disqualification from his first fight with Sterling) and his only win during that run happened to be against Sandhagen at UFC 267 back in Oct. 2021.
That's not to say Yan is washed or past his prime or the same for Sandhagen. After all, their fight was actually for the interim bantamweight title and although it was a close and competitive affair, Yan did enough to get the decision victory on the night. It's been nearly two years since and given the circumstances and their recent results (Sandhagen, in contrast, is on a two-fight winning streak right now), it makes perfect sense to run things back now with the winner being slotted right back into the bantamweight title picture.
Of course, this seems a bit unlikely given the short notice, the fact that Yan resides in Russia, and is unlikely to be in fight shape. However, it's definitely the option that is ideal and makes the most sense as far as the rankings go.
Rob Font
One particularly intriguing encounter that is yet to take place in the bantamweight division is Cory Sandhagen against Rob Font. Font recently bounced back from a two-fight losing streak with an impressive first-round TKO win over rising prospect Adrian Yanez at UFC 287 back in April. Overall, he has won five of his last seven and despite being 36 years of age, he still maintains hopes of challenging for the bantamweight title and the reality is, he still remains one of the best strikers — with his boxing in particular — in the 135-pound division.
There would be no better way to earn a first-ever bantamweight title shot than by defeating Sandhagen. Sandhagen is one of the best and most dynamic strikers in the world in his own right and it would certainly be fascinating to watch how they fare against each other in the stand-up.
It's a fight that Font called for early last year and out of the fighters on this list, it's certainly the most likely. Perhaps now in 2023 is when it finally comes to fruition?
Dominick Cruz
One final option and a wild card at that is former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Cruz is coming off a knockout defeat to Marlon Vera in August last year and hasn't competed since. However, he was on a two-fight winning streak prior to that with victories over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz, and one more win may have gotten him another title shot.
Instead, he'll now have to go back to the drawing board if he still wants to become a three-time bantamweight champion. Maybe fighting Sandhagen in what would be an extremely unique stylistic matchup given the similarities between the pair would be the perfect rebound option for Cruz?
The 38-year-old is a notable inspiration to Sandhagen too with the latter previously stating his desire to fight him before Cruz calls it a day.
“I really want to fight Cruz before he retires, Aldo too though,” Sandhagen said last year. “I get a lot of people saying that me and Cruz are very parallel and our styles this and that, but I love Aldo’s style too. I have been a student of Aldo and Cruz for a very long time. If I did have a preference, I’d go with Cruz because that would just be a right time, right place type of thing.”
That said, this remains more unlikely than Yan as Cruz has repeatedly spoken of the importance of a proper fight camp and given his commentary duties, he may not be able to make it even if he wanted to. That said, it's still a fight many in the MMA world would like to see at some point in the future.
