Cory Sandhagen (photo via YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Now that Cory Sandhagen is officially, no longer fight Frankie Edgar on January 25th, the rising bantamweight has begun campaigning for his next fight.

Sandhagen was originally booked to fight Edgar at UFC Raleigh. But, the latter stepped in for the injured Brian Ortega at UFC Busan and was stopped by Chan Sung Jung. As a result, Edgar is no longer eligible to fight Sandhagen.

Since then, Sandhagen spoke with MMA Junkie, and he had this to say about who he wants to fight next.

“Ideally, me and Cruz fight in first week of March,” Sandhagen said. “Ideally I fight on that date against Dominick Cruz, if that doesn’t happen then I’m likely going to have to wait until later March or April when this second round of bantamweight fights comes up and I can snag one of those top five guys.”

“I’m not going to try to chase a fight with Cruz too much because I think that the division is in a spot right now – all of the fights I feel like are going to do similar things for me so for example, if I fight (Marlon) Moraes, or if I fight (Petr) Yan or if I fight Cruz, or (Aljamain) Sterling or (Jose) Aldo, or whoever else there is to fight in that top five area, fighting either of those guys isn’t a ticket to a title shot. There’s still no clear contender, I just don’t want to be left in the dust.”

Sandhagen (12-1) has gone 5-0 to date in the UFC and the 27-year-old is coming off a decision win over Raphael Assuncao in August. Sandhagen is currently ranked #4 in the UFC’s 135 division.