Media Figgy declines December fight vs Sandhagen

[AmonTobin]

Umar is getting the TS pal lol. Might as well make your peace with it. The UFC didn’t decide to randomly cutover to a shot of Umar after Rogan asked Merab about that matchup. It’s done.

It is what it is.

 

[laleggenda27]

Figgy's a former 2-time champion and on a 3-fight winning streak. Why would he fight someone coming off a loss?

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Good to see Sandhagen trying to be active. Maybe Yan or Cejudo will step up to fight Cory. Yan rematch would be very interesting, Cejudo probably going back to 125.

He’s kind of TOO active. To his detriment. He is that guy that steps up at anytime, or anyplace.

He’s lost a couple fights that way.

I hope he gets another TS.

He seems like a cool cat.

 

[Nobru]

a two time champ moves up and beats two ranked guys. Usually enough for a TS. Then he beats a 3rd ranked guy. All in eight months. Still Umar gets it? Shits just ridiculous

 

[benebox]

Fig should get the title shot. If not he should be fighting Aldo for the next title shot.

 

[gentel]

Fig a clown for not fighting Sandhagen, Umar deserves the TS for beating Sandhagen, hopefully someone like Cejudo or Aldo will step up against Sandhagen

 

[Goutfather]

Figgy is not getting the TS next, it’s all but a done deal, Umar is getting it. Keep in mind UFC does the video production for the fights, why did they put the cameras on Umar and why did Rogan specifically ask about Umar? It’s all scripted, Umar is getting the shot.

i hope they find a better promotional angle than “it’s all scripted, umar is getting the shot.”

fig shouldn’t take that fight. even if umar is gifted this title shot based on his name, there’s a very realistic chance he pulls out.

 

[gentel]

a two time champ moves up and beats two ranked guys. Usually enough for a TS. Then he beats a 3rd ranked guy. All in eight months. Still Umar gets it? Shits just ridiculous

Fig looked mid in his BW wins, Umar looked invincible against Sandhagen, who is way better than anyone Fig beat at BW

 

[Goutfather]

Fig a clown for not fighting Sandhagen, Umar deserves the TS for beating Sandhagen, hopefully someone like Cejudo or Aldo will step up against Sandhagen

fig fought 3 times in 8 months against top shelf competition and prevailed each time. umar fought 3 times in the last 2 years, over 2 bottom shelf nobodies + sandhagen. since umar entered the ufc in 2020, fig became flyweight champ (twice), and fought 10 fights against ranked killers (that’s with 2 long layoffs btw). he’s always stepped up. so in what universe did umar “earn” his shot over fig?

sandhagen himself is not exactly the biggest win, seeing as he’s barely managed to keep his winning average above 50% since 2020. but he can be forgiven, seeing as he faced other ranked contenders along the way.

 

[Harlekin]

Figgy is 5'5 Sandhagen 5'11 - bad matchup
Sandhagen just lost
Figgy fought 3 times in 9 months
Umar is next anyway
Figgy could try as backup
Could have injuries to heal

His manager sees 0 reason to fight Sandhagen soon

 

[Doctor Grudge]

First minute of this interview.

This clinches my opinion, give Umar the title shot!!

How does that clinch your opinion? If he took that fight then that means Umar gets the title shot... you think the UFC would wait for them to fight and THEN give Figgy a title shot if he won over Umar?

Saying that clinches your opinion makes it seem like you're not being impartial, when it's obvious you just want Umar to get the shot because that's just want you want to see, lol. Has nothing to do with merit. Timeline doesn't make sense.

 

[fortheo]

Cory made a good point, he said Figgy is definitely not getting the TS, so he’s gonna have to accept a fight otherwise he’d be sitting out for damn near a year. If you’re really legit why not fight Cory? Umar beat Cory cleanly, if Figgy truly deserves a TS he should be comfortable taking that fight.

he's an old man who just fought 3 times in 8 months for crying outloud. Let the old guy have a few more months off if he wants.

Cory is just desperate to get the highest ranked guy he can after being embarrassed by umar. Despite the rankings, it is figgy who has the hype, and cory wants that.

Figgy doesn't need cory right now, especially considering petr yan is higher ranked than cory and yan has shown interest in fighting Figgy too.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Went in expecting to watch maybe 3 minutes. Ended up watching the whole interview. The interviewer is very good, and Cory is a very smart, articulate, self-aware person. Good stuff

 

[balkanbomber85]

Why should he fight Cory who just lost his last fght? Dude has won 3 in 8 months and should get the next TS!

 

[Jackonfire]

Cory is just looking for a fight. Right after 306 he said the best thing about Merab winning was it sets up O'Malley vs Sandhagen. Then he finds out Sean is having hip surgery so he moves on to Figgy. Now that Figgy said no he'll move on to someone else.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

All due respect, Fig is in title eliminator territory and Sandhagen isn't. Love Cory, he's a true gamer, but he took the gamble and lost it.

Some of y'all are WAY too quick to judge this situation against Fig. Even if Umar is "certain" according to some people, it's not announced, so unless the bookers outright tell Fig he's not getting the next shot, then it would be stupid of him to angle for anything else.

If he WAS told he's not getting it, but wasnt told Umar is, then his next step should be angling for the eliminator against Umar. If he is told straight up that it's going to be Umar? Sure, then at that point yeah, waiting is an option and maybe you can judge him for it, but as far as his next fight is definitely not Cory.

First pick would be former champ Sean. But Sean might choose to sit out for a while, we don't know if he's sticking to that claim or if he'd take Fig on with confidence. Second pick would be Yan. Sure, he's had a worse recent streak than Cory, but he's ranked higher, has a win over him, and he's coming off a win, so he's frankly a closer fight to the title.

The conversation should be "I want the champ. No? Ok, I'll fight Umar for the shot. They're both busy? I'll take the former champ, prove I could have beat him. He's sitting out? Ok, then I'll take the other former champ. Is that not an option? So my choice is either Cory or sit?" And NOW is the point that all of you "Ugh, I'm gonna turn on Fig now" folks can actually say something

 

[burningspear]

of course, he knows he's in the title convo

 

[omawho402]

I need Merab ridden of the belt ASAP, I put my faith in Umar over Figgy to accomplish that.

 

[moosaev]

he's an old man who just fought 3 times in 8 months for crying outloud. Let the old guy have a few more months off if he wants.

Cory is just desperate to get the highest ranked guy he can after being embarrassed by umar. Despite the rankings, it is figgy who has the hype, and cory wants that.

Figgy doesn't need cory right now, especially considering petr yan is higher ranked than cory and yan has shown interest in fighting Figgy too.

He didn't get embarassed by Umar, that was a high level tactical fight, Cory acquitted himself well.

 

[moosaev]

i hope they find a better promotional angle than “it’s all scripted, umar is getting the shot.”

fig shouldn’t take that fight. even if umar is gifted this title shot based on his name, there’s a very realistic chance he pulls out.

They probably reasoned that they'd make more $ with Umar at the helm and aren't as confident that Figgy can dethrone Merab. Same reason they're trying to force Belal to fight Shavkat. Umar isn't getting gifted, it's just a cold business calculation.