Cory Sandhagen Understands Boos, Defends Game Plan vs. Rob Font at UFC Nashville

Things went exactly according to plan for Cory Sandhagen against Rob Font in the UFC on ESPN 50 main event.

Sandhagen relied on takedowns and suffocating top control to cruise to a five-round verdict in their 140-pound catchweight clash at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday night. Those in attendance were not pleased with the performance, and while Sandhagen understands the angst, it was far more important for him to earn his third straight UFC victory.

“That was the game plan,” Sandhagen said at the post-fight press conference. “I thought that honestly he would have made some pretty good adjustments and stuff a couple of them later in the fight. Font doesn’t wrestle that good. He doesn’t have an immediate wrestler reaction. He doesn’t get up very well. The only way that he really gets up is on that underhook, and if I just shut that down, he’s not going to really get up.

“I know that there’s lots of boos and it’s not the most exciting win for the people in the crowd. But I [swept the scorecards against] the No. 7 guy in the world … I’m on my way to being one of the best mixed martial artists in the world. I want to be able to outwrestle the strikers and I want to be able to outstrike the wrestlers. That’s my path. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to be the best in the world, and I think I showed tonight that if you’re going to think that it’s just going to be a striking match, we’re wrestling.”

Sandhagen was originally slated to face the highly-touted Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC Nashville headliner, but when Nurmagomedov withdrew, Font agreed to step in on short notice. In the aftermath, Sandhagen credited Font for stepping up while pointing out that it was a difficult matchup for him — even if the new opponent didn’t generate quite the excitement that a fight against Nurmagomedov might have.

“I think honestly, you can’t sleep on Font,” Sandhagen said. “No one knows how good Umar is. He’s played up like he’s a really phenomenal fighter. He’s definitely real good. So is everyone else in the 135 division, you know? I didn’t buy into the whole ‘Umar’s this next phenom’ thing, not because I don’t think that Umar is good, because I know he’s good. But you don’t know until you’re a little bit of a ways into this career.”

“That was my 13th fight. That was my fifth main event. You don’t know things about Umar like you know things about me, but I wouldn’t necessarily call Font an easier opponent. It’s one that I’m definitely more familiar with fighting, but that doesn’t make him an easy fight to take on two and a half weeks’ notice, especially because he was getting ready to fight Song before that.

If it wasn’t for Font agreeing to compete two weeks earlier than planned against a different opponent, Sandhagen wouldn’t have been able to fight in Nashville.

“He didn’t have to take this fight. The reason I was on this card is because Rob Font took the fight. There wasn’t going to be too many other people, so I’m super grateful to Rob for that. I think that the people should really give him some credit for that, too, because one, he’s a phenomenal fighter. And two, he took a fight against me on two and a half weeks’ notice, main event. That’s a big deal. So all the applause to Rob, also.”