UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen will remain as the headliner for UFC Nashville on Aug. 5 as Rob Font has stepped in for the injured Umar Nurmagomedov.
First reported by ESPN.
Font (20-6) was set to take on Song Yadong at UFC 292, but Song withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons leaving Font available to step in for Nurmagomedov.
For #7 ranked Font this is a chance to take a leap back into the top 5 of the division as he gets #4 Sandhagen on short notice, but having been training for the Song fight. He last saw action at UFC 287 where he stopped up-and-comer Adrian Yanez via TKO in the first round.
Sandhagen (16-4) is currently riding a 2-fight win streak with a finish over Song, and a main event clinic put on against Chito Vera in March. He gets a top 10 opponent on short notice, but still within reach of a title shot with a win in Nashville.
The main event bout will remain a 5-round fight.
Nurmagomedov withdrew from the bout with a shoulder injury earlier this week which reportedly will require surgery putting him out for an unknown amount of time.
This sets up a showdown between two high-level bantamweights with Sandhagen’s losses only coming against former champions, but having won 3 of his last 5.
Font comes into UFC Nashville having won 3 of his last 5 fights including wins over Yanez, Marlon Moares and Cody Garbrandt.
