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- What: UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi Main Event
- Who: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Date: Saturday, August 3, 2024
- Location: Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi
- Time: Prelims (12:00 p.m. ET), Main Card (3:00 p.m. ET)
- How to Watch: Prelims (ESPN, ESPN+), Main Card (ESPN2, ESPN+)
The UFC opens its August schedule with an afternoon fight card from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. In the main event of the UFC Fight Night event, two top-10 ranked bantamweights meet in an important scrap. In that contest, former UFC interim bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen faces the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Sandhagen is the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings, while Nurmagomedov checks in at No. 10. Here is some background on the fighters before we discuss the betting breakdown for the main event of the UFC Abu Dhabi fight card.
Cory Sandhagen (17-4) faced Petr Yan for the UFC interim bantamweight belt in October 2021. Yan won that fight by decision. Since then, Sandhagen has fought three times, winning each of those bouts. Sandhagen is coming off an August 2023 decision victory over Rob Font.
Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0) is the cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. He joined the UFC in January 2021 and has put together a five-fight winning streak with the promotion. Nurmagomedov is coming off a March decision win over Bekzat Almakhan.
Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov were initially booked to face off in 2023, but Nurmagomedov withdrew from that fight because of an injury.
Before we look at the best bets for the Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov matchup on the UFC Abu Dhabi card, check out the best UFC betting sites and where you can find all our UFC betting picks.
UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi main event: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
| Fighters |  |  |  |
| Cory Sandhagen | +175 | +195 | +204 |
| Umar Nurmagomedov | -205 | -235 | -270 |
Cory Sandhagen betting breakdown
Cory Sandhagen has been one of the more entertaining strikers to watch in the UFC bantamweight division over the past few years. The 32-year-old has a solid kickboxing base to work from, but he is also unafraid to throw caution to the wind and take risks with flashy maneuvers, even when those techniques can get him in deep trouble against aware opponents.
Sandhagen is at his best when he mixes heavy body strikes with his jabs and leg kicks. When he finds the perfect mix of aggression, technique and recklessness, he is an elite competitor. Sandhagen is also a tough and resilient competitor, never losing by knockout and only having one submission defeat in his career. That submission setback came in June 2020 when Aljamain Sterling stopped Sandhagen in the first round of their bantamweight title eliminator.
Sandhagen is an active striker, landing an average of 5.33 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 44 percent. His striking defense is 58 percent and he absorbs 3.40 significant strikes per minute. Sandhagen averages 1.36 takedowns per 15 minutes, with a takedown accuracy of 33 percent. His takedown defense is 64 percent.
Umar Nurmagomedov betting breakdown
This fight marks the biggest test of Umar Nurmagomedov’s MMA career. The 28-year-old has shined against unranked competition, but he’s being thrown into the deep end for his first UFC bout against a ranked opponent.
The last name should be a giveaway of what type of approach Nurmagomedov brings to the cage. He has good striking, but his goal is to get the fight to the mat and rack up control time while looking for submissions or landing ground strikes while tying up his opponent’s wrist. Nurmagomedov can get tagged, something that happened early in his fight against Bekzat Almakhan, but he has great situational awareness and the ability to recover. One thing to note about Nurmagomedov is that even though he has not fought five rounds, he has good cardio and can string together his takedown attempts without running out of gas. In his most recent fight, Nurmagomedov went five for five in takedowns and had 11:26 of control time.
Nurmagomedov averages 4.75 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 69 percent. His striking defense is 76 percent, and he gets hit an average of 0.56 times per minute. Nurmagomedov averages 4.51 takedowns per 15 minutes with an accuracy of 56 percent. His takedown defense is 100 percent.
Best Bets: UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi – Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Cory Sandhagen has the better striking in this matchup, but his willingness to take risks and throw caution to the wind could hurt him against an opponent like Umar Nurmagomedov who only needs the smallest opening to get the fight to the mat. If Sandhagen can keep the fight at distance for long stretches of time, he has a chance to win, but I’m not sure he has the discipline to avoid flashy techniques that will give his foe the chance for takedowns.
The betting pick is for Umar Nurmagomedov to pick up a decision win over Cory Sandhagen in Abu Dhabi, but there is betting value in picking Sandhagen to earn an upset win via knockout.
See below the top offshore sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
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