Q&A with Cory Sandhagen, UFC Fighter
Cory Sandhagen defeated Marlon Vera in bantamweight on UFC fight night in San Antonio in March 2023.
One of the most powerful strikers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC),(Psych’14) forged his status as a world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) contender through years of discipline and self-discovery. The work has paid off with big recognition — including serving as a guest on.
At Boulder, were you already MMA training?
As a student, I wasn’t a professional, but I was competing as often as I could. I wasn’t doing as much MMA at the time, but a lot of jiu-jitsu tournaments and stuff like that. I trained at a few gyms— Easton Training Center in Boulder, Grudge in Wheat Ridge and High Altitude in Aurora. I was bouncing around all the time; my college experience was just planning classes around when I could train.
When did you know you wanted to do MMA professionally?
I was a big sports kid growing up. When I was in high school, I wanted to play basketball in college, but I wasn’t big enough or good enough to play at a school that I wanted to go to. I started doing martial arts because I saw it on TV and thought it was a cool-looking sport. It consumed my life not long after. I poured all of my former basketball energy into fighting.
People don’t realize it, but Colorado has always been a giant hub for MMA. When I was first getting into it, I realized all these professionals were training right down the street from me. I think that’s a big piece of why I’ve gone as far as I have.
What does a typical day look like for you?
It’s usually two practices a day, three when we’re lifting. So six days a week, I can have a practice at 9 a.m., a practice around noon and then a lift around 4 or 5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are a little slower because we don’t push as hard towards the end of the week. Our bodies are pretty banged up by then. But it’s fun. I wake up, hang out with my friends and train all day.
In October, you fought in UFC 320, one of the biggest events on the circuit. What was that like?
It was pretty much as big a fight as it gets for me. I think losing in fighting is a lot more devastating than a lot of other sports, because you don’t get to play again next week. There’s a downswing after you lose, especially when it’s a big opportunity like that one, but you take some time off, start feeling normal again and then get right back to it. I’m grateful I got the opportunity to challenge myself against the best guy, and I did fairly well.
You’re well-known for your fighting style. What’s the strategy behind it?
Success in this sport requires creativity. You have to be able to think outside the box. My early style, I feel, was very creative. There’s a lot of, “Oh, I like this here, I don’t like this here.” At this point in my career, now that I’m past a lot of those learning steps, it’s way more militant. Now I know that if I do all of these certain things at the right time, then I’ll get the outcome that I want.
What are your goals for the future?
I’m 33, and I don’t really want to fight too far past 36 or 37, so I think I’ve got around six to eight more fights left in me before I call it quits. I have a lot of plans, though. I’m starting my own gym here in Centennial. It’ll be a normal martial arts gym where you come in, sign up and take classes. I’m going to teach the classes in the beginning to get it going, and of course, we’re going to have a fight team that I can hopefully train with.
What are your hobbies outside of fighting?
I’ve been doing a lot of creative things in my free time. Right now, I'm getting a couple of comic books that I wrote illustrated. They’re not superhero-type comic books — more like graphic novels about cosmic, existential things. ThinkBlack Mirror, but an animated version for adults.
Who has influenced you in your life?
Most of my coaches growing up were all inspiring guys. I looked up to a lot of them. I’ve had some really good ones. I also look up to my parents, too. The only reason I am half of what I am is because they were good too.
Photos courtesy Cory Sandhagen