Umar Nurmagomedov casts doubts over Cory Sandhagen’s endurance, believes he has a cardio edge

Undefeated UFC bantamweight from Dagestan Umar Nurmagomedov is set to face no. 2-ranked Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3. Ahead of his massive five-round contest, 'Young Eagle' made a controversial assessment of his opponent's cardio, saying 'The Sandman' will get exhausted against him.

Speaking to Red Corner MMA, Nurmagomedov said (translated from Russian):

"We'll see who gets tired and whose cardio is better. He [Sandhagen] will get exhausted in there fighting with me. You will see... Didn't he get tired in the Petr Yan fight? He talks like he's a cardio machine... He was winning the early rounds and he lost the fight because he got tired. So I am really surprised to hear comments like that from him like he can outlast me. Okay, we will see. We will check this out."

Check out the interview clip posted by Red Corner MMA on Instagram:

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Cory Sandhagen expects a stoppage win over Umar Nurmagomedov

It turns out Cory Sandhagen doesn't expect to rely on his cardio against Umar Nurmagomedov. In an exclusive interview with James Lynch of Sportskeeda MMA, 'The Sandman' outlines how he'll get the finish against the feared Dagestani wrestler.

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Sandhagen said:

"I think as long as I work my *ss off, I could definitely get a finish in this one. I definitely don't want to go in and... I want this fight to be one that, like, drops people's jaws. Like, I want people to be like, 'Wow, Cory is that good. Like, man, I didn't know Cory could grapple like that. I didn't know that he could fundamentally break someone down in striking the way that he did.'"

Sandhagen continued:

"I mean, people have seen that from me before, but they haven't seen my high high-level grappling, so I'm really excited to show that. I also think that, with the additions I've made since the elbow's been hurt, are going to play a big factor in this. I definitely added some heat onto a lot of the things that I'm doing."

Watch the full interview below: