Cory Sandhagen is an exciting professional mixed martial artist currently signed with the coveted professional mixed martial arts promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has been around for almost a decade now on the professional circuit and has maintained an impressive run as a competitor.
Cory Sandhagen after making his professional debut in mixed martial arts in 2015 fought in various fight promotions in bantamweight and featherweight divisions. In his fourth professional fight, he defeated Josh Huber on July 16, 2016, at Sparta Combat League 50 by a unanimous decision and won the SCL featherweight championship. Sandhagen competed in Legacy Fighting Alliance after leaving Sparta Combat League and fought three times in the promotion before moving forward to making his way in the UFC in 2018.
At the time of his promotional debut in the UFC, Cory Sandhagen had a professional mixed martial arts record of seven wins and one loss to his name. He maintained his winning run in the UFC after his successful debut against Austin Arnett. Owing to his success, Sandhagen got a chance to compete in a bantamweight title eliminator fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 250 where Sandhagen failed to seize the opportunity and lost the fight by a first-round submission.
Cory Sandhagen fought Petr Yan at UFC 267 for the vacant UFC bantamweight championship. Sandhagen was outclassed by Yan in the fight and ended up losing by a unanimous decision. Currently, Sandhagen is ranked No. 2 and is one of the top contenders in the bantamweight division. He is scheduled to return to the octagon against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov on August 3, 2024, in a high-stakes bantamweight showdown.
What does Cory Sandhagen’s back tattoo mean?
Cory Sandhagen supports angels inked on his back and the tattoo seemingly represents religious figures. However, Sandhagen reflected on the meaning of his tattoo in a press meeting in 2023, he said:
“To be honest with you, I forget that the thing is even back there and I got it so many years ago. It’s kinda more or less a religious piece and I’m not like a very religious guy anymore like in the traditional sense…you know I don’t even know that I love mine that very much to be honest. Someone described it once as it looks like a smeared thumbprint on my back on TV and I thought that was really great because that is exactly what it looks like. So, had I had the foresight for that I probably would have got something maybe a little bit more badass and legible [h/t MMA Mania].”
Cory Sandhagen’s UFC Debut
Cory Sandhagen made his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 27, 2018. He took on Austin Arnett in his promotional debut for the elite mixed martial arts organization. Sandhagen defeated him by a second-round TKO to win the fight.
FAQs on Cory Sandhagen's back tattoo
A. He has a back tattoo consisting of religious figures. The exact meaning of the tattoos is not known.
A. He faced Austin Arnett in his UFC debut.
A. He is 32 years of age.
A. He has competed in the featherweight division besides the bantamweight weight class in his professional MMA career so far.
A. He fights out of Aurora, Colorado, USA.
