Umar Nurmagomedov has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming fight against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Nashville. The bantamweight bout was scheduled to take place on August 5 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Umar Nurmagomedov is out of his scheduled headliner on August 5 against Cory Sandhagen due to undisclosed reasons, sources confirmed with ESPN on Wednesday.
UFC is currently seeking a new opponent for Sandhagen. pic.twitter.com/GISuuaq7v4
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 19, 2023
It was reported by The Schmo on “The Schmozone” that Umar Nurmagomedov suffered a shoulder injury during training and it will require surgery which puts him out for the foreseeable future.
Corey Sandhagen Still on Card
Despite Nurmagomedov’s withdrawal, Sandhagen will still be the headliner for UFC Nashville. The UFC has not yet announced a replacement opponent for Sandhagen, but it is expected that they will do so soon.
It’s going to be tough for the UFC to find the right dance partner for this main event spot in the bantamweight division. Most of the division is in a logjam where fighters are either booked for other fights or are nursing other injuries that will have them out for a while. So, the UFC certainly has their work cut out for them to back a good main event.
Potential Replacement Opponents for Sandhagen
Like we just talked about there aren’t many top ranked bantamweight contenders that can be ready to fight in less than a month. Most of the fighters are either injured and will be out for a while or they have fights coming up.
The only fighters that aren’t injured and don’t have fighters inside the top-15 are Dominick Cruz, Ricky Simon, Chris Gutierrez, and Jonathan Martinez. At that bunch, only Martinez is the one coming off a win but he isn’t a big name and he is ranked 15th in the bantamweight rankings.
The fight that generates the most buzz out of this group of fighters would be Dominick Cruz. Cruz has been linked to potentially welcoming Deiveson Figueiredo to the bantamweight division but nothing has been signed there. With that said, at this day and age it is hard to expect Cruz, who’s mainly been doing commentary, to be ready for a 5-round main event fight against one of the best fighters in the division on less than one month’s notice.
The withdrawal of Umar Nurmagomedov is a blow to the UFC 290 card. However, Cory Sandhagen is still on the card, and he is a dangerous fighter who is always looking for the finish. The UFC will need to find a good replacement opponent for Sandhagen, but the fight should still be exciting.
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