UFC champ Aljamain Sterling reacts to Umar Nurmagomedov's 'freak injury' that forced him out of Cory Sandhagen clash

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has reacted to Umar Nurmagomedov's recent injury.

Nurmagomedov was set to take on Cory Sandhagen at UFC Nashville on August 5 at Bridgestone Arena. However, the highly anticipated bout has been canceled after the former was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injury.

Umar Nurmagomedov suffered a shoulder injury while training and will require surgery. A video of the same was posted on Twitter as well. Reacting to the video, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling called the injury "a real freak accident."

He said:

"Wow. That’s freaky. Not sure if that’s chronic, but seeing a shoulder slip out right there just seems like a real freak accident."

Take a look at his tweet below:

It is worth noting that Sterling also suffered an injury in the build-up to his last fight against Henry Cejudo. He was suffering from a partially torn bicep tendon for nearly a year before stepping into the octagon against 'Triple C' earlier this year in May.

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Umar Nurmagomedov injury: Who could be Cory Sandhagen's replacement opponent?

With Umar Nurmagomedov pulling out of the fight, it is unclear who will serve as his replacement and fight Cory Sandhagen. Most of the ranked fighters in the bantamweight division have a fight booked or have fought within the last three months.

It looks like bantamweight contender Adrian Yanez has made the job easier by putting his name out for a fight against Cory Sandhagen. However, Yanez's most recent outing could lead to the UFC avoiding booking the fight.

He was last seen in action against Rob Font at UFC 287 and ended up suffering a first-round TKO loss.

Apart from Yanez, there are two names who could potentially take on Cory Sandhagen. No. 15-ranked Jonathan Martinez could be an option. However, it remains to be seen if Sandhagen will agree to fight someone outside the top 10 with lesser name value than Umar Nurmagomedov.

Dominick Curz could be an option as well. Curz hasn't fought since August 2022 when he suffered a TKO loss to Marlon Vera and this could serve as the perfect opportunity for him to make his return to the octagon.