“We are just discussing this fight with the UFC right now,” the Russian told MMA Fighting. “My manager is negotiating, and now the conversation is about the date. I think it will be June 8 or June 29, but if some other date, it doesn’t matter – I’m ready to fight any time.”
According to Nurmagomedov, he could compete with the American in the stand-up, but prefers to move him and finish him in the parterre.
“I think I can beat him in the stand-up, but why should I give him a chance? The stand-up is always 50-50. Somebody can catch you. Anybody has a chance for a lackey punch. Why give him a chance for a laki-punch when I can transfer him and choke him, or dominate him and smash him? That’s why I always prefer to transfer people and then choke or smash them.”
The Russian fighter is convinced that his fight with Sandhagen will have challenger status.
“Who else? Me and Corey, who else? Peter Yan has lost three fights, and has only gotten his career back on track – he has one win. In the top five, Chito lost, Sehudo lost, and only Corey is on a winning streak. So there’s nobody else.”
As a reminder, Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov are currently ranked third and tenth in the UFC’s lightweight division rankings, respectively.