I’d Be Kicking Myself If I Were Cory Sandhagen: A Fighter’s Regret

Aljamain Sterling believes Cory Sandhagen could have avoided his current situation in the title picture.

Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is riding a three-fight winning streak, which includes a dominant victory over Marlon Vera  this past March. Vera is set to fight bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the UFC 299 headliner on March 9.

In his most recent win over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 50, Sandhagen suffered a triceps injury in Round 1. Originally set to face Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), Sterling believes Sandhagen took a risk by accepting the short-notice fight against Font.

“If I were Sandhagen, I’d be kicking myself,” Sterling told The Schmo. “Like damn, maybe I should have sat that one out and just waited for the doors to open up for me.”

Rumors surfaced that the UFC plans to reschedule Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov after leaked images of Dana White’s “War Room” – despite Sandhagen previously stating he has no desire to reschedule the fight.

“They’re giving him Umar, man,” Sterling said. “Unfortunately for him, it’s a bad situation because if he hadn’t torn his tricep, he would be fighting Sean next. I still even think that’s weird because he beats Rob Font on short notice. Should he leapfrog Merab (Dvalishvili), considering that Merab is the No. 1 contender?”

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Sandhagen suggested that the idea of fighting for the title upon his return shouldn’t be considered “outlandish,” and that he no longer sees upside in fighting unbeaten rising contender Nurmagomedov.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie