Cory Sandhagen releases statement following UFC Abu Dhabi main event loss

Cory Sandhagen is giving Umar Nurmagomedov his flowers.

The longtime bantamweight contender lost a hard-fought decision to Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi, putting his bantamweight title plans on hold once again. Sandhagen entered Saturday’s contest on a three-fight win streak, including a victory over recent title challenger Marlon Vera, but the loss to Nurmagomedov likely sends Sandhagen back to the middle of the pack for now.

Shortly after the conclusion of UFC Abu Dhabi, Sandhagen issued a statement via social media.

“Tough sport,” Sandhagen wrote in a caption. “Umar is really world class - it was an honor to fight one of the world’s best. Congrats to him.

“Gonna keep getting better, like I always do. Thanks for the support. I love you guys.”

Nurmagomedov improved to 18-0 with the win, with six of those victories coming under the UFC banner. Afterwards, he called for the winner of the Sept. 14 UFC 306 bantamweight title main event between champion Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.

Sandhagen previously competed for an interim title at UFC 267, where he lost a five-round thriller to Petr Yan. His UFC record stands at 10-4.