The Daniel Cormier Show - Cory Sandhagen on Sean O'Malley callout, Aljo & Merab losses, pursuit of UFC title

Summary

The Daniel Cormier Show – Cory Sandhagen on Sean O'Malley Callout, Dealing with Losses, and His UFC Title Pursuit

Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd | Date: March 25, 2026 | Host: Daniel Cormier | Guest: Cory Sandhagen

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Overview

In this engaging episode of The Daniel Cormier Show, Daniel sits down with Cory Sandhagen—one of the UFC’s top bantamweight contenders—to discuss Cory’s unique mindset, his childhood and family background, how he processes setbacks, the role of inspiration and self-awareness in fighting, and his highly publicized callout of Sean O’Malley. The conversation flows through candid stories, psychological insights, and humor, shedding light on the inner workings of a world-class fighter pursuing gold despite setbacks and public scrutiny.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Cory Sandhagen's Upbringing and Family Values

[02:20 – 07:58]

• Colorado Roots: Cory grew up in Aurora, Colorado, in a sports-centric family, playing basketball and engaging in outdoor activities like snowboarding and skiing.
• Parental Influence: Both parents worked for the post office; upbringing was described as “normal” but busy due to travel for work.
• Freedom and Work Ethic: His parents' hands-off approach allowed him to “paint [his] own canvas,” instilling independence and strong work ethic.
• Family Ties: Currently, Cory remains close with his family, especially his father, whose age now impacts his ability to attend Cory's fights.

“They let me be how I wanted to be...and it kind of made me carve my own path, and it just made me kind of a little bit of a free thinker.”
—Cory Sandhagen [06:38]

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From Basketball Dreams to the Octagon

[07:59 – 11:51]

• Basketball First, Then MMA: As a child, Cory believed he’d play in the NBA, inspired by players like Earl Boykins and Allen Iverson.
• Competitive Fire: Motivation partly came from battling with the coach’s son for a starting spot.
• Discovery of MMA: At age 17, MMA appeared as a fascination: “I started watching it on TV…Dominick Cruz, Uriah Faber…then I just fell in love with the sport.”
• Natural Talent: Early gym experiences revealed innate ability, surprising Cory and his skeptical parents.

“I thought I was gonna be a lot worse at it than I was, but then I realized…oh, I kind of have a natural [talent].”
—Cory Sandhagen [11:29]

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Obsessive Work Ethic & Dealing with Burnout

[12:08 – 14:46]

• Cory’s obsession is with “progress,” not accolades—he doesn’t burn out because he always feels there’s more to learn.
• Skeptical of the "10-Year Rule"—he’s been passionate for 16 years and feels motivated as ever.

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Competition, Structure, and Mental Health

[14:46 – 22:34]

• Learning to Love Competition: Unlike Cormier, who found competition intrinsic, Sandhagen had to “trick [himself] into loving it.”
• Fighting as Structure: Competition and fight camps give Cory’s life stability and curb feelings of chaos or sadness when idle.
• Managing Mental Health: Cory copes with post-fight voids by staying busy (writing, reading, hiking), being “present,” and allowing himself the occasional rest day.
• Compartmentalization: Both discuss suppressing negative emotions—a survival skill in sports, but one that can have consequences if not eventually addressed.

“Everything for my entire life has just been, what do I got to get better at today and tomorrow?”
—Cory Sandhagen [23:51]

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Life Perspective, Self-Awareness, and Dealing with Loss

[24:07 – 29:47]

• Work with Traumatized Kids: Cory credits time at a trauma center with deepening his self-awareness and encouraging empathy.
• Losing a Friend: The death of his best friend at 18 shifted his outlook:
  “That was a big thing for anyone to just be like, whoa, death is real. I’m not gonna do some bullshit with my life...I’m just gonna do what makes me happy.” [27:52]
• Handling Pressure: Pressure doesn’t crush Cory—instead, it’s minimal compared to life and loss:
  “There’s no way that you could hurt me...If I’m doing my best, I’ll die a happy guy.” [28:49]
• Putting Losses in Context: Defeats don’t shake his core identity or sense of purpose.

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Social Media & Living with Loss

[30:40 – 32:42]

• Cory avoids social media after losses, understanding that surface-level support, while comforting, isn’t always genuine.
• Both agree it’s usually better to sit with and process failure honestly, rather than chase online affirmation.

“People do: ‘I made a mistake. And I got caught.’ No, you lost. The guy was better.”
—Daniel Cormier [32:11]

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UFC Career: Key Fights & Mindset

[33:50 – 37:08]

• Cory recalls his UFC debut, which came after “turning [himself] into a person that can’t be hurt by…life.”
• Most difficult loss was against Aljamain Sterling—first time finished; forced deep reflection and hard training.
• Life lesson: Accept what’s not in your control, and focus on learning from every performance.

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Pressure, Fearlessness & ‘The River’ Analogy

[37:08 – 39:32]

• Admits he’s human and can get “caught in the river current” of pressure.
• Loss is a reminder to realign with personal motives, not external expectations.

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The Frankie Edgar Knockout and Not Wanting to Hurt Others

[39:32 – 42:13]

• The famous flying knee KO was practiced, but Cory humbly stresses he’s only one half of a fight’s outcome.
• Struggles with the sport’s violence:
  “I don’t like hurting people…This thing’s a big giant sport to me.” [41:11]

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Evolution as a Fighter & Facing the Best

[42:24 – 46:05]

• Fighting top talent forced Cory to fill gaps, particularly wrestling, transforming him into a more complete martial artist.
• Believes in “doing the right thing at the right time,” focusing on skill building more than traditional confidence talks.

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The Mental Game in MMA

[46:05 – 47:45]

• Wrestling and MMA are uniquely taxing—not just physically, but mentally.
• Mental skills (discipline, toughness, belief) equal in importance to technical skills.

“You can be mentally strong as shit, but if your skills suck…you’re going to lose.”
—Cory Sandhagen [46:18]

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Humor, Personality, and Authenticity

[47:45 – 49:32]

• Cory’s humor and dry wit help him stand out amidst the “macho, trash-talking” culture of MMA.
• He prefers fans connect with his lightheartedness rather than brashness or negativity.

“I’d rather them build rapport and some type of connection with me through thinking that I’m funny versus thinking I’m a dick.”
—Cory Sandhagen [49:25]

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Calling Out Sean O’Malley

[49:32 – 53:49]

• Cory explains he wants O’Malley because “it’s the only fight that makes sense for both of us now.”
• Disputes the narrative that he’d only wrestle O’Malley, wanting to prove he can outstrike the champ.
• Expresses mild frustration at O’Malley’s attitude toward matchmaking and “easier fights,” saying:
  “One of the most biggest gifts that we have as athletes to give to people is inspiration…O’Malley is not about that life.” [51:40]
• Cory suspects O’Malley is avoiding the matchup, unwilling to take a risky challenge.

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Legacy & What Really Matters

[53:49 – End]

• Cory wants to be remembered as “one of the best champions to ever do it because he didn’t give up…didn’t cut corners, did everything he could.”
• Even if he never wins the belt, he wants his career to be defined by resilience, hard fights, and inspiration.

“Whether the odds were in his favor or not, he still showed up and he still tried his best.”
—Cory Sandhagen [54:28]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On learning self-discipline through adversity:
  “Sports teaches you how to…still drive forward.”
  —Cory Sandhagen [21:21]

• On the meaninglessness of external pressure:
  “There’s no way that you could hurt me…If I’m doing my best, I’ll die a happy guy.”
  —Cory Sandhagen [28:49]

• On his most viral knockout:
  “It was dead quiet, dude. I remember when I got done yelling…being like, oh, shit, his kids saw that.”
  —Cory Sandhagen [41:11]

• On inspiration & legacy:
  “Inspiring and giving back…is one of the few ways I get to do that in the sport…Corey Sandhagen didn’t cut any corners.”
  —Cory Sandhagen [51:40, 54:03]

• On mental fortitude in fighting:
  “You can be mentally strong as shit, but if your skills suck…you’re going to lose.”
  —Cory Sandhagen [46:18]

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Important Timestamps

| Segment/Discussion | Timestamp | |:-------------------------------------|:-----------| | Upbringing, family, basketball | 02:20–11:51| | Discovering MMA, mindset | 11:51–14:46| | Competition, structure, mental health| 14:46–22:34| | Trauma work, life/death perspective | 24:07–29:47| | Losing, pressure and coping | 30:40–32:42| | UFC journey, Aljo loss, resilience | 33:50–37:08| | Pressure, the 'river' analogy | 37:08–39:32| | Frankie Edgar KO, violence & empathy | 39:32–42:13| | Facing top fighters, skill vs. confidence | 42:13–46:05| | Mental aspect of fighting | 46:05–47:45| | Personality and humor in the sport | 47:45–49:32| | Calling out Sean O’Malley | 49:32–53:49| | What legacy means to Cory | 53:49–End |

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Summary

This episode offers a revealing portrait of Cory Sandhagen as a fighter and person—introspective, dryly funny, relentlessly dedicated, and guided by experience and empathy. His refusal to compromise, willingness to tackle tough questions (inside and outside the cage), and unique perspective on loss, pressure, and legacy mark him as both a top contender and a role model. His highly anticipated callout of Sean O’Malley finds its roots not in trash talk, but in a deep drive to test himself against the best and inspire by example.

Transcript

[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

The volume. What's up, guys? Welcome to a brand new episode of the Daniel Cormier show, brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC. They're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down, and that is a total power move. You know what's a power move? Having friends. Friends that you can call on to come and do a show like this, and having friends that have accomplished a lot. My guest today is one of the best bantamweights in the world. He is Cory Sandhagen. Fought for the UFC Championship, has had viral knockouts, he's won fights. He's honestly one of the smartest guys in all the mixed martial arts. But Corey keeps you sharp while he's joking. He doesn't smile, he doesn't laugh. He's one of the most genuine guys you could meet in this game. But he's an absolute killer when he's locked inside the octagon. He still has dreams of becoming a UFC world champion. We'll get into that. We'll get into his upbringing and everything that makes Cory Sandhagen. Cory Sandhagen. Today, I'm joined by the one and only Corey Sandigan. Corey, thank you so much, man.

[Corey Sandhagen]

No problem, man.

[Daniel Cormier]

How you doing, my brother?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I'm good. This chair is, I think, built for guys like you, not for skinny guys like.

[Daniel Cormier]

Well, see, I put that. I. So, last time. Last time, I put a black pillow behind me, and I had a black shirt on. They go, dc. How big are you, bro?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

You need a bigger pillow. Yeah, There it is.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Oh. What's up? How you doing?

[Daniel Cormier]

I'm good, man. I'm good. You're a Colorado boy.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Through and through. Yeah. Born and raised. Yeah. Yeah. You're sitting a little more comfortable. Born in Aurora, Colorado. Colorado is a beautiful place, but what was life like for you growing up there as a kid?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I grew up in the suburbs. I Honestly, it was just like a normal Colorado suburban upbringing. I was a totally normal kid. My parents traveled a lot for work, so I was kind of. All I did as a kid was play sports. Growing up, I didn't. That was like my entire life. We were a sports family. I grew up playing basketball, so that's why I spent a lot of my time doing. I was outside playing all the time. We didn't really do, like a lot of nature y stuff when I was a kid, but I would, like, snowboard, ski, do just like all the Colorado stuff, you know.

[Daniel Cormier]

So when. When your parents are traveling, like, who. Who are you with?

[Corey Sandhagen]

We were at daycare a lot, and then my parents had to kind of like alternate when they were around. So, like, when my mom was traveling, my dad would.

[Daniel Cormier]

What did they do?

[Corey Sandhagen]

They both worked for the post office, but my mom did sales, and then my dad was a postal inspector. So.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, so you do daycare and then they would kind of alternate picking you up and everything, right?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it was totally normal, man. I don't really. I was kind of an aggressive kid growing up. I don't know where that came from, really, but I was just that way.

[Daniel Cormier]

You know, You've talked a lot about the influence your parents have had on your life. Are you guys still as close today?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, we're tight. Yeah, me and my. I mean, yeah, we. Yeah, we came a long way as a family growing up, but yeah, we're real close. My mom loves fighting. My dad's kind of. My dad's on the older end. He's like 74, 75, so he kind of. He'll still come to the fights, but there's a stint there where he couldn't come just. Cause he would get so nervous and.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, he's just a little older too, but my mom loves it. My mom will be like, you see what this person said about you? Like, like, she's the. She's in all the MMA gossip and stuff. That's why I get most of it.

[Daniel Cormier]

How was. How was dealing with that? Right? Because for a lot of boys, making their dad proud is like the ultimate thing, right? But if it was making your father, like, you know, kind of, like, sick, how hard was it to like, be accomplishing all these great things while knowing, man, that's kind of messed with my dad a little bit?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, a little. So I. I wasn't forced to do anything as a kid.

[Daniel Cormier]

What do you mean?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Like, we were. I was a sports kid because I wanted to. Like, I did I. I thought I was going to be in the NBA.

[Daniel Cormier]

That is just the craziest thing. I had that later in the interview, but that is just the craziest thing, that you thought you were going to the NBA.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Well, okay, so I knew I was short because I grew up really small, too. But there's this guy, Earl Boykins, who used to play.

[Daniel Cormier]

I know Earl Boykins is. He had big old ears, too. Yeah, he could dunk, though. Yeah, he was a good dunk.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. Yeah. I liked all of the short players. Allen Iverson's. I liked all the guards. And I was like, I could do that, you know, because I'm fast, all of that. I thought I had it, but then it took me till about 16, 17 to realize that that probably wasn't happening.

[Daniel Cormier]

But you said you weren't forced to do anything.

[Corey Sandhagen]

No, my parents let me do. No, I was given a lot of freedom. They. They were never like, hey, be good at this. Like, I was never pushed, you know, like, my parents.

[Daniel Cormier]

Why.

[Corey Sandhagen]

They just. That's just not their style. They just weren't like that. But I always worked real hard. I think I got that from them. My grandparents are from Ireland, so my grandparents came over immigrant family. My mom grew up in Queens, New York. Real, real rough, like, upbringing, kind of. And then she was just, like, a tough lady, and she made me tough. My dad's kind of on the softer end. My dad grew up in Iowa on a farm. And so I think I just got, like, a real good work ethic from the both of them.

[Daniel Cormier]

You speak about that work ethic. How important was seeing that? Right. Obviously, they're sacrificing time with all the travel and everything. How important was that in framing who you became as a person, as a fighter and as a person that works as hard as you do?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I think it almost made it better. I mean, everyone kind of has their ways of becoming how they are, and I don't really know how people work completely, but I think because I was just given freedom to be how I wanted to. I just developed my own freedom. That you actually have, like, what do you mean?

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, you keep saying you had all this freedom.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I mean, they. I mean, they just kind of. They were like, oh, you want to try that?

[Daniel Cormier]

This is your canvas painted as you see.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, pretty much. They let me be how I wanted to be. They were, like, kind of okay with just me. Like, they were just cool like that, you know? Not a lot of parents I know are like that. And my parents were just cool like that. They Just let me be and explore who I wanted to be. And it kind of made me carve my own path, and it just made me kind of a little bit of a free thinker and all that. I think a little bit too. And, yeah, they were good parents, man. I have great parents. I'm really lucky.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. Yeah. So what. Is there one thing specifically that you saw from your parents that really did stick with you as you're grown?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I mean, they were. They worked hard, dude. Like, both of them worked real, real hard. My dad was a really sharp guy. Me and my dad were really close growing up. Me and my mom, not as much. We're. We're much closer now, but, yeah, my dad was. Me and my dad were real tight, but he wasn't like a hovering dad. He would kind of. I remember me and him used to go to church a lot, and we'd have conversations after church about like, hey, do we really think that that is true what they said? So I was kind of free to, like, explore stuff in my own way. And, yeah, I remember me and my dad being really, really close, which is kind almost say, like, sad now because my dad's getting a little older. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

You want to be as close today, right?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. I mean, we are close. I'm definitely really nice to him now. Like, I'm like, damn. You know, like, dad's getting old, dude. I got.

[Daniel Cormier]

You weren't nice to him before.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I mean, I was a kid. Every. Every teenager is not nice to their parents, right? Is that true? Were you nice to all you, bro?

[Daniel Cormier]

I was the guy that. My mom and dad. My mom was like, come substitute teach at times at my school. My sister would. I'm like, running up to my mom. Everybody's like, yo, what. What is wrong with you? That's like, I like my mom.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Daniel Cormier]

You weren't like that.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Not really.

[Daniel Cormier]

What would you have done if your mom was walking on campus as a substitute teacher?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Dude, if I could describe my mom to you, she wouldn't even want me to run up to her and be like, really? Oh, yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

She's kind of hard.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Oh, yeah, she was tough, bro. She. I mean, she grew up in Queens, New York, with Irish immigrant families that were raised in orphanages. You know what I mean? So my mom was. Yeah, she's a tough lady. She made me tough.

[Daniel Cormier]

Did you. Did your parents have an idea that you would be something special they let you do?

[Corey Sandhagen]

No, they hadn't. No. I mean, I knew I was good at Sports, like, I knew I was always better than most people at doing anything athletic, but. No, I mean, I was little dude, and I think I went into high school, I was probably like 4 8, 4 foot 8, and then shot up one year. But no, they. I mean, I thought I had athletic dreams, but they didn't, you know, they didn't.

[Daniel Cormier]

They didn't think, wow, this dude. But were they cheering and screaming when you playing these basketball games?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Not really. They didn't. I mean, they weren't. They weren't really invested in it the way I was, you know?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Just the way that we were.

[Daniel Cormier]

You, you talk about basketball. You think you could have guarded me?

[Corey Sandhagen]

You.

[Daniel Cormier]

Me? Yes. Do you think you could have guarded me?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Could you have guarded me?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yes.

[Corey Sandhagen]

No way.

[Daniel Cormier]

Locking you down, Corey.

[Corey Sandhagen]

No way, bro. No way. I was fast.

[Daniel Cormier]

Corey, you.

[Corey Sandhagen]

You're. You look powerful, but I don't know. You're fast too, though.

[Daniel Cormier]

I'm pretty fast.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Can you shoot, dude?

[Daniel Cormier]

Lights.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Can't shoot.

[Daniel Cormier]

I am. Lights off.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Really? No.

[Daniel Cormier]

My producer, Luis, I be busting his ass on the basketball court.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Really?

[Daniel Cormier]

We play three point shootouts and I'd just be busting his ass.

[Corey Sandhagen]

You don't. He doesn't.

[Daniel Cormier]

What position, Corey? You were a guard?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I was a guard.

[Daniel Cormier]

You started. Dang, dude.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I actually, you know what? Now that we're talking about it, I do think that a piece of the reason why I work so hard at basketball is because the coach, the coach's son and me always competed for the starting spot. And so I was always like second in our, like, feeder teams all the way through high school and everything. And I was like, I gotta beat this guy in everything. And so I made sure that I did.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. Yeah. When did fighting enter into your life?

[Corey Sandhagen]

When I was 17 and I was. I started watching it on TV. I thought it was real cool. Just watching guys like Dominick Cruz, Uriah Faber, Donald Cerrone, all of those WEC guys. Aldo from way back in the day. And I remember just falling in love with the sport and just being like, I'm gonna try that. And then when I did, it was a small pool, like, you know what, what year did you start fighting?

[Daniel Cormier]

I started fighting in 2009.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, okay.

[Daniel Cormier]

So I was like, 32. I'm 31. I was gonna turn. I think I was 30. Yeah. I was about to turn 31 years old.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, so I started in 2009 too. So, you know, at that time, it wasn't, it wasn't as big, it wasn't popular. And the Rooms like martial arts gyms weren't like member gyms. Like, you went to martial arts to fight mma? To like fight, yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

When you first walk into that gym, what are you thinking as a guy that's a basketball player?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I thought I was gonna be a lot worse at it than I was, but then I realized I was like, oh, I'm like, I kind of have like a natural. I remember we did a blue belt roll off that for like two weeks into me training and I got second place. And I remember going home and telling my parents, because my parents didn't like that I did it. Like, they thought that I was like kind of working out issues through fighting. So.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. They didn't really sound like your parents.

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, those thinkers are like, corey, is there anything you want to tell us?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Like, yeah, kind of. Really? Yeah, kind of, yeah. And I was like, yeah. But I, I loved it just right off the bat. I was obsessed with it and I just had like a talent for it. So.

[Daniel Cormier]

Do you think that's your brain, though? Like, do you think that you're like, do you think that, like you, like you said you're obsessed with it? Like, do you have an obsessive personality?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I do. When I get into things, I get really into them. I'm super obsessed with progress. Like, I don't burn out. Like, you know, training can get hard and our nervous systems can get overwhelmed or whatever, but I don't burn out because I still feel like I got a ton to learn. And that's just always been the case with me, with this sport.

[Daniel Cormier]

Is they. Chris Wyman was mentioning a book, it's called the ten Year Rule. They said you can only do something at a super high level for 10 years. Do you think that because you didn't have that pressure from your family and in the household, you were able to apply yourself to basketball and now mixed martial arts without really feeling it. Because even me as a young wrestler, I didn't get pressure from my parents and but my coaches put a lot of pressure on me. So then there were times where I'm like, I don't know if I want to wrestle anymore. And then I fell back in love with it as I got older. But do you believe in that, a 10 year rule that you can actually compete at something or focus on something for a decade and then you start to kind of drift because you said you don't burn out?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Nah, I've been doing it for 16 years and I don't feel that at all. Maybe a little, but not hardly at all, no.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. Like, I. I'm obsessed with the progress piece, man. I don't know if it's the way my brain is wired or what, but I'm mega obsessed with just being like, all right, this week, I need to get better at this. And then, you know, just doing. I've just been doing that.

[Daniel Cormier]

What does that look like for you, though? Like, knowing that you're moving forward, not getting stagnant because you've. You trained with Trevor Whitman, right? And you haven't jumped a whole bunch of gyms, you haven't mixed up a whole bunch of partners, you haven't done so many things to get a gauge. How do you measure that improvement when the situation isn't changing much around you?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I just got really lucky with who and where. I signed up at Nate Marquardt's gym when I started, and then at the time, Trevor also had his gym grudge, which is where a ton of really good guys.

[Daniel Cormier]

I remember that.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I just got really lucky, man. I just typed in on Google, like, where do I do martial arts? And Nate's gym was just 10 minutes from my house. And so I just got really lucky. And so a lot of it is that, like, I just got really lucky in who I got to train with and a lot of who I am. And the way that I think is because of past coaches, too. And I think, you know, no one does anything completely on their own in life. And I just got really lucky that I had really good people helping me right off the bat.

[Daniel Cormier]

Do you think there was a moment where, when you're in those gyms and you're learning mma, right? Because it's a lot of learning early and you could. That's when you can see the improvements right now, when you become a world class fighter, when you're championship level, it's very incremental, right. It's very small, small things where you improve. But in those moments when you're early and you're really raw, you see those big jumps, was there a moment where you went, this is my path? Like, this is the path. This is what's going to make me be what I want to be in life.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, kind of. I didn't really have aspirations to be a UFC champ. I. I feel like my entire life I've just done things that I think are super fun. And so that's just always what I've tried to do. And it probably wasn't until other people started telling me that I should fight and I should compete and That I could be really good and I could be a champ. And like I said, it was coming from really high level people. Like, it was coming from UFC fighters and all of that. And they were telling me that, and I was like, oh, okay. Like, I guess they know what they're talking about, so, yeah, do it, you know?

[Daniel Cormier]

And that's how you decided you wanted to fight professional.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I kind of got. I didn't like competition in the beginning.

[Daniel Cormier]

See, that's. That's the thing that. That's the thing that most athletes have. It's just that burning desire to compete.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, bro, I would try to beat you in video games. I try to beat you to press in the elevator if we're walking somewhere together. That sounds tiring and makes you. It makes us. It makes me very annoying.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, that's pretty annoying. I know I wouldn't be like that because I don't want to be annoying,

[Daniel Cormier]

but that annoying thing.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Allowed me to go and accomplish all these great things because I was always in competition. Yeah, but to hear you say competition didn't come naturally for you. Like, how do you foster that?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I had to learn how to love it. Like, I feel like everything. You just have to learn how to love, like, you. We can trick ourselves into some crazy shit as people, and I've tricked myself into just loving the competition piece, and now I really love it. But like I said in the beginning, I just like training. I like going into the gym, getting better, being, like, cool, I got good at this. And then that's just kind of always how I saw it. Now I really like competing. Like, I almost feel like I live for it. My life. I feel like the structure of it and my purpose and goals and stuff. When they're not there, the structure of my life gets crazy and it just feels chaotic in my head, and I hate it, which is kind of where I am. Like, any time that you don't have a fight, did you feel like that?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Lost, almost.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I just feel lost, and. Yeah. So I don't like that feeling. So now I feel like competition gives me, like, a ton of structure.

[Daniel Cormier]

How are you dealing with that, though? How are you dealing with that feeling inside your mind where. So I have a kid that was on my wrestling team, and he was, like, a little bit of a bad kid, but the moment the season started, he was so locked in. I mean, he was perfect. But then the moment it was over, he can be a bad kid again.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I can relate to that.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. How do you deal with that? In life now, as a man. Right. You don't have this thing. Right. You haven't fought for a while since you fought for the belt. It's like you want to fight. How do you deal with the thoughts in your mind of man? My purpose feels missing.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Probably not very healthy. Maybe. Like, I have to keep myself busy like you guys. My wife. My wife hates that my brain works the way that it works. Like, I have to be doing something. TV doesn't do it for me. Reading does, because I'm kind of, like, locked in on reading. Like, it's something that I have to pay. Sit there and pay attention to. But I have to just do a bunch of things, dude, or else I'll get crazy. I like doing creative stuff. I like writing now. That's kind of like one of my bigger things that I'm really enjoying. I used to hike a lot. I used to go to the gym a lot. But I just have to keep myself busy or else I. I become a insane person.

[Daniel Cormier]

What do you do?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I write.

[Daniel Cormier]

I'm saying, what do you do when you don't have those things?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I do. I just find something else to do.

[Daniel Cormier]

You said you become an insane person.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Has it ever happened where you just kind of like.

[Corey Sandhagen]

It's just like a loss feeling, you know? It's like a.

[Daniel Cormier]

It's just.

[Corey Sandhagen]

It's not, like, insane in my behavior as much as it's insane. And just inside my head, I just feel chaotic.

[Daniel Cormier]

I would feel sad.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, when I didn't have anything, I would almost get, like, almost depressed. Right. I needed something to move me.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

And then when I didn't have that, it almost felt like a sadness would come over me. It was very weird.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. It's a weird feeling for me. I don't really. I don't really pay attention to my feelings a lot, so I don't know that I necessarily feel sad or anything. I mean, I pay attention to my feelings, but I don't give them too much attention. I'm like, okay, I'm sad or I'm angry or I'm whatever today. But it doesn't bother me. I'm just like, oh, that's how I am today. You know, because we're weird. Like, people are weird. Like, for whatever reason, we have bad days that feel sad or depressed or angry or whatever. And, um, I just don't pay attention to it. I'm like, okay, what do I got to do today to get better at fighting or get better at whatever it is that I'm trying To get better at.

[Daniel Cormier]

Do you ever take. Do you ever take those days where you're like, I don't. I don't really love the way I'm going today. I'm a rest.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I do. I usually have one day like that in training camp because I do 12 week camps and I usually have one day where I'll call the coaches and be like, guys, I cannot come in today. Like, I need a day to just sit and just not really rest my body, but just rest my mind on stuff. And so I do get those days, but they're kind of far in between.

[Daniel Cormier]

But.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I don't know, man. I. The more I kind of think about it and the more that I reflect on a lot of stuff, I do think I try to be normal because I think normal is inspiring. But I do know I got something unique about me in the level of push that I can do and the consistency of push that I can do, I think I haven't seen in a ton of other people.

[Daniel Cormier]

Do you worry, do you worry that that kind of putting stuff away when it's trying to show itself will come up later in your life and you'd be like, I have to deal with all those emotions because I do that bad. I'm a compartmentalizing person. Like, I'm the best at it. I can be like super jacked up and go, I'm just gonna go to work today. And nothing, nobody from the outside will see that anything is bothering me because I just don't want to feel that way today.

[Corey Sandhagen]

That's what I'm saying, though. So you have that control over yourself. Yeah, I think that sports teaches you that. I think that sports teaches you how to. Or competition or a goal or some type of higher purpose or whatever in all of us. I think it gives us something to ignore our feelings about and still drive forward.

[Daniel Cormier]

But they will show at some point.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Oh, you think so?

[Daniel Cormier]

They. They. Corey, I'm telling you, they are going to come.

[Total Wireless Sponsor]

Why?

[Corey Sandhagen]

How do they come out for you? Like when you push something down a bunch, what's it, what's it look like

[Daniel Cormier]

when it comes out? Bad? It's bad. Okay. For example, when I was. When I was wrestling, when I was younger, obviously I lost a kid, a daughter, very young, and I just suppressed it. And then I started going to practice and I couldn't get through a practice without like bawling.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, I could not get through anything that was hard without like completely breaking down because I needed to deal with those things that were inside of me that just were knocking, like, please let me out, let me out, let me out. Then eventually I let it out.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And what did letting it out look like, though?

[Daniel Cormier]

Crying and shit? Just like. And I went and saw somebody and started being a sports psychologist and all kind of stuff to kind of learn to deal with my emotions and when it was time to let it out. How have you dealt with your loss to me, Rob? What did you do?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I just. I just tell myself, I got to get better, man. Like, onward, you know, like, whether I win or lose any fight, just nothing changes on that Monday coming up, you know, I was just like, all right, whether I win or lose, I still got stuff to work on. Like, I have a whole checklist going into every week or every month of what it is that I got to work on big time. And that's. That's just. That's literally where I put all of my attention.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

But that's interesting. I don't know. I think that. Yeah, I mean, I've probably had to deal with some stuff that I shoved down for a really long time, but I think that sports helped me work through that still, you know, because possibly

[Daniel Cormier]

punching and kicking people is like a release for.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I never saw it like that. It was always a sport to me. I don't like hurting people, really. Yeah, I know that some people like hurting people, and that's okay. You're in the right sport, you know, if you're doing that. But I never got. The only thing I cared about was building skills. That's all that I cared about. This is literally all that I cared about.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. Everything else, I kind of was able to just be like, whatever. That's just a feeling or whatever. That's just this. Or that's just that. Everything for my entire life has just been, what do I got to get better at today and tomorrow?

[Daniel Cormier]

Corey, before you became a full time fighter, you worked in a trauma center with kids?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I used to work. It was called Mount St. Vincent's that place taught me a ton of stuff about myself. I wanted to maybe do social work when I was growing up. I went to school for psychology and I kind of. I grew up in. So Aurora is kind of a weird place because it's Colorado, but it's very diverse in the types of people that you'll get, or at least for Colorado. But I grew up with poor friends, rich friends, you know, black, brown, white, all kinds of different friends. And I remember everyone just coming from different places, and we were not wealthy we were like normal suburban. Like, both my parents worked for the government, so we were never hungry or anything like that. But I had a lot of friends that were like that. And I always remember reflecting. A lot of it too is just, I think growing up religious too, and having conversations with my dad about that and just reflecting on, like, why do I not have to deal with what my friend has to deal with? Which were like, really heartbreaking stories. And I think that a part of me wanting to go and do social work is because I, I wanted to help all my old friends just be. Just help them out, you know, because I feel like compared to them, I was very fortunate.

[Daniel Cormier]

How did that, like, how did that experience shape you?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Well, it taught me a lot about self awareness because the kids that we would work with all came from very traumatic pasts and we had to learn how to work with them, which meant learning how, like, we operate. So I remember when I, when I first started working there at 22, I remember being like, oh, so when this kid starts wandering or starts being fidgety or something, he has something inside of him going on. And I was like, what do I do when I have something going on inside of me? And then I just started building a lot of self awareness. But I don't think I would have been able to go down that path had it not been for working at that place. So those I, I owe that place and those kids, I feel like a lot and just my, like, who I am now.

[Daniel Cormier]

That changes you when you see kids going through hard times, right? Like you said, you were aware enough as a kid to recognize the differences in life and how life at times can seem a bit unfair, but you're already fighting. While you're not fighting full time, you're fighting and working in this situation. Does that change a little bit of the mentality when it comes to the fighting and the approach? Like, do you realize, like, man, this is fighting and I could potentially make a boatload of money in this or I could lose. But ultimately it's not that. Yeah, it's not what these kids are going through.

[Corey Sandhagen]

It was that I think I had two major experiences when I first started training that shaped me into, like, full dedication and shaped me into being like, I'm doing this. When I was 18, I lost my best friend. And I remember that was like my first close experience with losing someone that I really, really loved and cared about a lot. And I remember being like, oh, so this thing doesn't last forever.

[Daniel Cormier]

So life, you mean life.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And I was like, I'm just gonna do. I'm literally just gonna do what makes me happy, regardless of what type of situation it puts me in. And. And to address.

[Daniel Cormier]

Could I ask you what happened?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, he. I mean, he just. Just. College stuff. He just got drunk and fell on his. You know, he fell. And then he was in ICU for a while, and he hit his head hard enough to not be able to make it through, so.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, it was. It was really tough on all of us. His name was Ross. I'm still really close with all of his family. But that was a big thing for me at 18. That was a. That's a big thing for anyone to just be like, whoa, death is real. You know, like that. And then to try to wrap your head around that for real is sometimes very difficult. But, yeah, it just kind of made me be like, man, I'm not doing this bullshit that. Like, I'm just not gonna do some bullshit with my life that I don't want to do. And I'm not gonna play by the rules that other people are playing by, because I'm gonna do this thing the way that I want to do. Which is what makes me a little weird, too, but. Which, you know.

[Daniel Cormier]

Oh, I'm just saying. But does it. It would seem like pressure for you is different than for most. Whenever you see life in the way that you do, because most people can get crushed by pressure. You don't come off as a guy that will ever get crushed by pressure.

[Corey Sandhagen]

There's no way that you could hurt me. Like, I went on this whole. I don't even want to call it a spiritual thing, because I think that's corny, but I did go through some years where I was like, just. I was just. I was just like, I'm just gonna do this thing how I want to do it. And, like, the pressure, all of that stuff. I was like, I mean, who really cares anyways? You know what I mean? Like, as I. I always believed in, if I'm doing my best, I'll die a happy guy when I'm done with my career. And I know that I put every single ounce of everything into it. That's where the. What else can I do? I can't do anything more than that.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And we can't all be LeBron James. We can't all be Khabib. And I'm not an undefeated guy. And I've lost, and that doesn't. That doesn't hurt me. You know what I mean? The same way that I think it maybe hurts Other people, just. Because that's not where I, like, put my attention. I just put my attention in building skills and trying.

[Daniel Cormier]

Does your wife like this approach? Because it would seem like it would allow for a lot less stress, especially going back into the house after the last fight. You know, when I would lose a fight, I would literally be in my room for, like, a month, and I would put, like, black curtains over the windows. I would just go mourn.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I've been there, too. I mean, I do. I mean, that. That is a part of it also. But that's just the body doing what the body is gonna do. You know, that's just us really wanting something and then the universe not giving it to us, and that can, like, really hurt us sometimes. But once you kind of snap out of that, because we. We do get hurt and we do have feelings, but once you snap out of that, it's like, oh, okay. Because there is a grieving process. But if we were in control of it, we. We would move past it quick, you know? But it's not in our. You know, we don't get to decide some things about ourselves.

[Daniel Cormier]

So many fighters rush to the Internet after they lose because they want to feel better. They don't want to sit in that sadness. I. I think it's the dumbest thing in the world today. When you have Instagram, when you lose a fight, how quickly do you visit Instagram?

[Corey Sandhagen]

When I lose, I, like, a couple weeks. I won't read anything.

[Daniel Cormier]

There's a. Most fighters, especially young ones, on the way back from the Octagon, they go, tonight wasn't my night, but I'll be back. You want to know why I think they do that?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Why?

[Daniel Cormier]

Because generally, the people that are following you, they want to support you.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

So what messages do they get when? Just tonight just wasn't my night. You'll be back, champ. We all still love stuff like that.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's why young fighters do that.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I. I have a really low. I don't trust people to, like, tell the truth most of the time. So I don't even, like, play with people's ideas about that stuff, because a lot of the time, like you said, they're just trying to make me feel better anyway.

[Daniel Cormier]

But that's what they want to do, right? Because that emotion feels like it's what you want to hear. But in reality, you should separate yourself because you should live in that to make sure that you're not doing it over and over and over again. People do. I made a mistake. And I got caught. No, you lost. Mm. The guy was better.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. I mean, my favorite thing after anyone loses is especially on, like, the team or something, they'll come back and they'd be like, ah, you know, it was something mental. Or it was this and it was that. And it's like, yeah, there are. This whole thing is X's and O's. You do the right thing at the right time, you win. There's like, mental X's and O's, too, where you got to think in a certain way, and that, like, will up your odds of winning and stuff. But the. A lot of the time, it's not mental. It's like, dude, that guy was just better than you. And that's okay.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's okay.

[Corey Sandhagen]

That's okay. We. We literally can't all be LeBron James, but you can try as hard as LeBron James, and maybe you'll turn into LeBron James or you'll write a better story than LeBron James, but you're not going to be able to do that if you don't get to work, you know?

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

You know, I. I've lost in some big spots. NCAA finals, Olympic bronze medal match, Olympic semifinals, Jon Jones fight, Stipe fight. But I'm like, well, what if I didn't take my shot, right? You can write your story, and you can build a pretty nice story, even if you're not Cale Sanderson or those guys, right? I don't think enough people take the chance on themselves, because people don't think big enough at times. But you thought big, right? You take this thing and you say, I'm going to do it the way I want to do it. That leads to you being 7 1. You get the call from the UFC. What do you remember about that first fight and what you felt like walking into the octagon? Was it nerves? Was it fear? What were the feelings going through Corey Sandhagen on the night?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. So by that time, I had gone down that little stint of, like, self exploration or spiritual, whatever, stuff where I really sat down with my ego and I asked myself where all of these things were coming from and all. And I really, man, I really try to turn myself into a person that just can't be hurt by the things that life throws at me.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And so by that time in the ufc, I was really good at being really fearless, and I still carry that with me because I know that, like, a loss will hurt and it will suck, but it's not going to impact me. Like, it's not going to change the soul of me. So that kind of stuff is just like, whatever, you know, just keep it moving. That's it.

[Daniel Cormier]

How much that's obviously helped you because in big moments, you've had to deal with some huge setbacks. Right. I think back to the Aljamain Sterling fight. You won five in a row. You're in this fight with title implications. Right. Some people come into this thing with massive expectation. I don't know if you are one of those guys.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, but a little bit.

[Daniel Cormier]

A little bit, right. But when you get on that, that. To that spot and it doesn't even feel like you get a chance to compete, how hard was that? How difficult was that for Corey San Dan?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, that. That one definitely hurt the most because it, One, it was the first one, and two is my first time being finished, which was just not cool with me. I reacted to that one, I think, in a really positive way, in that I worked really, really hard after that one to like, really dial in some things that I just didn't know about. But a lot of losing to man is like, oh, I didn't know any better. You know what I mean? Like, how much of the guys that you coach is like, it's okay, man. Like, you just literally, you just didn't know that move or you didn't know how to do that and that, like, how much can you beat yourself up over that? And I think that life sucks, and this sport sucks a lot, and you can either have a good attitude about it or you can have, like, Kind of a crummy attitude about it. But regardless of what attitude you have about it, it's still going to come with its trials and it's still going to come with its sucks. So to me, it's just. I'm just going to not let it impact. I mean, it does impact my joy, but it doesn't really touch me as deep as, you know, it maybe hits other people.

[Daniel Cormier]

You always talk about not feeling pressure. You don't feel pressure. Like, do you think that's helpful or hurtful in those big spots, like, where you almost, like you don't realize that. I mean, there's pressure being a world champion or you ignore the pressure of being a world champion and then sometimes it doesn't work out.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I mean, I acknowledge that it's important to me. And I think a lot of people feel pressure because they are afraid of external stuff. I still go into a fight fully being like, no, I care. I personally care about winning this fight a lot. I personally care about doing the best. But that's not. That doesn't feel like pressure. That feels like just me having, you know, it's time to hit a home run, like, lock in and try to hit the home run. It's not a. It's not like a, oh, if I don't hit this home run, so and so won't like me, or I won't accomplish this amount of financial whatever, or I won't accomplish this type of dream that I've had. It's. It's not that. It's just like. It's just like an acknowledgement that I really care about this. So I'm going to do this as best that I can.

[Daniel Cormier]

And that's, you know, when you, you said something that said I felt like I got caught in a river current after that. What. What did that mean? Sterling fight. Yeah. You said I felt like I caught in the river current. Then you ultimately came back into your own river. You said you got back into your own river. What did you mean there?

[Corey Sandhagen]

That was a long time ago. I don't remember the context of it,

[Daniel Cormier]

but if you hear that, what do you think?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Like, I probably got swept away with some of that pressure stuff because I am a human being and every single person goes through the pressure piece and sometimes we get swept away, especially nowadays because everything's in our face. And I feel like the bar of what people want you to accomplish is very, very high now because everyone's like, so accessible and everyone's showing off everything and all of this stuff. So it feels very. Like, it's just easy to get caught up and swept away in external stuff. But it's the nicest part about losing is remembering that, no, no, no. Like this. You're doing this for you. You know, it's a nice feeling about losing. One of the few.

[Daniel Cormier]

The next fight, Frankie Edgar, dude, you're fighting a former champion.

[Corey Sandhagen]

The next one was Marlon Moran, or Marlon.

[Daniel Cormier]

But then when we get to Frankie Edgar, that's what I want to get to Frankie. You get to Frankie Edgar, a future hall of Famer, former world champion. Flying knee knockout, bro. That was one of the craziest knockouts of all time.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, that was a good one.

[Daniel Cormier]

Was that something you practiced and said, oh, my God, I know he's going to go forward and this is going to happen? And how's it feel whenever all those thoughts really show themselves in the fight like that?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, it felt good. I was kind of in. Yes. You know, honest. If I'm being really honest, that fight could have gone that way or it could have gone a million other ways. Was not luck, because it's something that I definitely practiced. But to say that I was fully in control of knocking Edgar out is. It's like. It's two dance partners. It's me and him. So he had a lot of say in that. I just didn't get lucky in landing that. But I just. That's just what happened in that fight. And it could have gone a thousand different ways, and it went that way, and that's great. And you roll the dice enough times, you'll knock some people out, too, you know, like, that's why I don't trip out after even, like, a not so great win, is because it's like, oh, you know, like, not all of this is totally all in my control. I don't get to go out and just starch people and put them out and walk away the exact same way that I want to. It's. It's not up to me sometimes it's up to the universe and them, and. And that's just how it is. So you just keep it moving.

[Daniel Cormier]

Were you a little scared when he was, like, out, like, that bad? It was bad. Were you a little scared?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I was a little scared. And it was at the apex. It was dead.

[Daniel Cormier]

Why?

[Corey Sandhagen]

It was dead quiet, dude. It was. I remember when I got done yelling because I was celebrating and still really into it, I remember being like, oh, shit. You know, like, shit. His kid, his kids saw that. Like, because I don't like hurting people. This Thing's a big giant sport to me. So that, that was sad.

[Daniel Cormier]

How do you, how do you deal with that, though? That, that, that desire to not hurt people in a sport that is as violent as anything in the world.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. Just don't think about it really. I mean, he's all right, right? Like that.

[Daniel Cormier]

Well, he's now, but he didn't.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, but that's what I mean is he's all right now. It's not like anything severely damaging happened to him. And also he. That could have easily happened to me too. So it's, it's just. And I would have been all right, you know what I mean? Instead, like, we're not killing each other literally. So, like, you know, anytime that anytime someone's going through something really hard or something bad happens or whatever, it's like, but did you die? You know?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, people say that all the time. Yeah, people said, but did you die? And I'm like, well, could have. When I'm trying to. When I'm trying to find pity. Right. Like, I'm like, why? I kind of could have.

[Corey Sandhagen]

He maybe could have. Yeah, that would have been sad. I probably would have quit after that.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, of course. I think most people would if something like that happened. You fought some really high level competition. How much have you grown in those moments, win or lose?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I mean, I've had to. That. That's the piece of my career that I'm super pumped about is I've literally had to get good at things that I maybe wouldn't have wanted to get good at things or maybe wouldn't have if I wasn't fighting that level of competition. But I'm literally fighting some of the best fighters in the entire world. That's why I had to become a good wrestler is because it's like, hey, Corey, like you could do this striking stuff, but then you're gonna run into someone that's gonna be able to take you down, hold you down like Al Jermaine did. And that's not gonna be very fun. And so it's like just fighting that caliber a person, literally, you either have to get better or you just lose and your career is over.

[Daniel Cormier]

But I mean, you are fighting the best of the best. And even just sharing the octagon with those people, it's like you feel yourself leveling up.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

I remember after we, we left in Abu Dhabi when you and Umar fought, Umar just could not sing your praises anymore because of your abilities and who you are inside the octagon. Corey, you speak a Lot about mental, right? You talk about manifestation. You talk about visualization. Is that a power move of yours in regards of you use it against other fighters, knowing that you have a mental edge over most?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I think that all of the. I think all of the mental stuff just puts you in a better place to where, like, the opportunity that you'll have to win just gets higher. So it's not like there's no secret sauce to any of this. Like, you know, it's just you win or you lose. And it's not like, because someone's doing X in training camp or training with X in training camp, there is no secret sauce. It's. It's. You either win or you lose.

[Daniel Cormier]

And.

[Corey Sandhagen]

But I do think that believing in yourself, like, that's something that I've kind of. Trevor's helped me a lot with in the last couple years, is being like, hey, man, you have to have, like, an unbreakable belief in yourself. Where I thought confidence was just something that you just kind of, like, faked, you know? But Trevor's been helping me believe, like, truly believe. Like, hey, no matter what happens, you're gonna win this fight. And telling myself that whether it's a delusion or not doesn't matter, it still puts me in a place in my mind that's going to give me the best chance at winning. So when I fought Merab and I got dropped in the second round, that if I didn't fully believe in my heart that I was still going to go win that fight, that fight, he could have finished me in round three, round four, whatever, But I. I believed I was still winning that fight. All the way up until the very last bell. I didn't. So my belief was wrong. But I believe that that's the reason that I was able to fight the rest of that fight well and not get finished or have anything worse happen.

[Daniel Cormier]

Are you a naturally confident person? Mmm,

[Corey Sandhagen]

I think so.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I think so. I don't know. What do you think? Do you think I am? I don't really know.

[Daniel Cormier]

Really.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I don't know. I guess I don't really know. I think confidence is, like. Confidence isn't, to me, much of, like, an X and O, so I don't care about it a ton, you know? Yeah, there's one of my favorite.

[Daniel Cormier]

So you. You literally live in.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Do the right thing at the right time and you win. Yeah, that's where I live. Do the right thing at the right time and you win and be in a headspace that's going to give you the best opportunity to win, and that's all that I care about.

[Daniel Cormier]

Mental. How important is that to fighting, though? Because I've heard people say stuff like, wrestling is 10% physical, 90% mental. Do you buy into, like, mental is more important than physical in a fight?

[Corey Sandhagen]

No, I think that they're both equally as important. If you. If you're mentally strong as shit, but you suck. Like, your skills suck. Like, you're.

[Daniel Cormier]

Doesn't matter.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, you're going to lose, you know.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Most of the time. Fighting is interesting, though, because. And wrestling is really unique, too, because you can get someone tired and break

[Daniel Cormier]

them and then still win.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And still win. So, like, mental fortitude and mental toughness is incredibly important in our sport in particular, because we have one of the most exhausting sports in the entire world, too. Like football players, NBA players. I'm sure they get tired, but they don't get tired. Like, we get tired, you know, so we have to be able to be strong enough to still make good decisions under, like, incredibly high levels of fatigue, so stress. And that's. And that's, like. That's something that's really, truly unique. And I do think that fighting is way more mental in that regard than all of the other sports.

[Daniel Cormier]

Do you practice, like, meditation and. And mindfulness before fights? And. And if so, what does that look like?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I. I try to be present. What do I do? I. It's kind of. It's just. It's like, transformed so much through the years that it's kind of hard to describe. But I do think, like I said, man, I think that putting yourself in a state of belief where you're going to win and you'll do anything to win, and you totally buy into that with your heart, that's important, you know, that's. That's as important as being really technically skilled.

[Daniel Cormier]

Corey, you. The reason I was so drawn to you is because your personality and humor, it's dry.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

But it's. It's very funny. Like, I don't think I. I've laughed more than that time we did that live stream. You. But you lie, man.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, I'm a liar.

[Daniel Cormier]

Huey said some crazy stuff. You said you were homeless at one point. He did the only fans thing. But humor is a big part of Corey Sandhagen. Why is it so important in a sport that's so violent to have a sense of humor? And I look at your threads and I'm like, what is he talking about?

[Corey Sandhagen]

I know. I'm just laying in bed thinking, dude. Yeah. Why is Sense of humor important, I feel like, because this thing is an entertainment sport too, and you know that. So I have to be like a something to people. And I don't want to be a douche. I don't want to, like, come off negative and trash talky and all of that stuff. So the way that I can do those things, the way I can be unique in a sport where it's kind of saturated with, like, macho ness and talking shit and stuff, is to be a lot more light hearted. And I'm tough, too. Like, I'm rough in. In my head too. Like, I'm not like, oh, this is silly, you know, Like, I still want to beat up my opponents really bad. Like, I don't, but I can. But as far as, like, the personality of who people have to fall in love with and build rapport around, I'd rather them build rapport and some type of connection with me through thinking that I'm funny versus thinking that I'm a dick.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, for sure. Because I could be a dick, too. I definitely can be a dick. I just, you know, I don't want to show those sides of me.

[Daniel Cormier]

Corey, you recently called out Sean o' Malley for a fight, wanted to fight him at the White House or anywhere else. Why Sean o'? Malley?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Right now, it's the only fight that makes sense for the both of us. One, two. I like the fight. I. I know that I'll beat o', Malley, and I know that there's a lot of people that are like, oh, Corey's gonna take him down. He's gonna wrestle. Like, I'll out strike o'. Malley. That one just bugs me and irks me that, I mean, you know, like, we got egos. Like, I know that I'm better than him and I want to go beat him, and I want to prove that I'm the better striker. I'm the better fighter just all around in general, and that's why I want to fight him. And it makes the most sense right now. And I hate the way that he answers questions when he gets asked about me because he said he's never turned

[Daniel Cormier]

down a fight against you, though. Never. He said he's never been offered a fight against Corey Sandhagen that he said no to.

[Corey Sandhagen]

So is he blaming it on the UFC not wanting that fight then?

[Daniel Cormier]

I don't know. I'm just telling you.

[Corey Sandhagen]

I mean, because I'm asking for the fight. I don't know. Sean. Sean's been on the record for being like, this is a. This is a business to me. I wanted to take the easiest fight for the most amount of money. As a fan like Sean, as a person, I'm not going to carry any hatred towards him or jealousy or anything like that. I like Sean as a person. I. As a fan, I don't think the way that that type of character or whatever is interesting or inspiring at all. I think that one of the most biggest gifts that we have as athletes to give to people is inspiration to like, go do something cool with your life too. That means stepping up to the plate, taking big risks like I have in my entire career. I do it for me, but I also do it because inspiring and giving back, that's one of the few ways that I get to do that in the sport, is by inspiring people. It's like, why, why would you take a fight against Umar? He's down in the rankings. But because if I win, then I get to inspire a bunch of people. If. If I go out and I beat Merab or I beat Yan or whatever, I get to inspire a bunch of people because I know that I took the hard road to get here. O' Malley is not about that life. So I can't be like a fan of that dude in that way. On a personal level, I think he's good. I think he's just a normal other human being trying to do his best in life and he has his values. But as like a fan, I just can't respect that much.

[Daniel Cormier]

You think that he's avoiding?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Why?

[Corey Sandhagen]

Watch the way that he answers all of the questions. I don't know why. I honestly don't know why.

[Daniel Cormier]

Because you're about as big a name in the division as there is that.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And it's the biggest fight. Neither one of us lose anything in that fight by fighting each other. If Sean, in a worst case scenario for him, he goes out and he loses, he doesn't lose anything, man. Like, I'm established. I'm known as one of the best in the division. So why don't you want to fight? From. From a perspective of my own, from his perspective, it's like Corey's a tough fight. Why would I not? Why would I take a tough fight when I could take an easier fight and make just as much money? That's like not the type of thinking that I walk around in life with. So we're just different and that's okay. But yeah, I definitely think he doesn't want that fight or else I think it'd be booked by now.

[Daniel Cormier]

Are you going to keep Staying on him to try to get it.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Yeah, until. Yeah, pretty much that's the fight to make. There's literally no other reason he's in the same spot as me. His fight against Song was not title, like, title worthy, in my opinion. It was a slow fight. Song almost won. Sean did what he had to do, but it wasn't like he went out there trying to hit a home run. And when I go out and fight, I fight, like, the entire time. Like, that's something that you can't take from me. Like, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to fight you hard. And I try really hard, too, to kind of pander a little bit to the fans and to the UFC and being an exciting guy and taking more risks and just pressing people and being in their face and being impossible to hold down. Like, I do all of that, so that these things are exciting and fun to watch. And it's cool, efficient looking martial arts. And not everyone does that in the sport. And sometimes I do, if I'm. If I'm being really honest. I do get a little bit jealous that other people maybe get rewarded for not doing that, where I know that that's what I'm doing, but that's just the way that I handle things, and he does it differently.

[Daniel Cormier]

So before I let you go, when this thing's all said and done and you retire, what do you want people to remember about Corey Sandhagen?

[Corey Sandhagen]

That he was one of the best champions to ever do it because he didn't give up. He had a hard road, he took some losses, but he still got to wear gold. And in a worst case scenario, if I don't ever get to wear gold, I still hope that people get to look at my career and say, I can respect that dude. Because he didn't cut any corners, he did everything that he could, and whether the odds were in his favor or not, he still showed up and he still tried his best.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Corey Sandhagen]

And I'm okay with that. I can live with that.

[Daniel Cormier]

And either way, that's Corey Sanhagen. You become the champ, you don't become the champ. You'll be Corey, because that's what you are.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Right, Exactly. I'm the guy that just. I took risks. I did everything that I could. I tried to make this thing as exciting for fans and for myself. Cause I hate watching boring fights. Like, I hate it. So I like to do it for myself, too. I want to look back on my entire career and be like, damn, dude, you performed really good. You were a great mind for the sport. You tactically did things really well. I just want to go down as one of the greatest. That's always what I've wanted to do. And whether I do or not, that's up to the world's narrative about me. But to me, I know that I'll always have acted and been a champion in my heart, whether I get to wear gold or not.

[Daniel Cormier]

You the man.

[Corey Sandhagen]

You the man.

[Daniel Cormier]

Corey Sanhagen, guys. Corey Sandhagen, one of the smartest guys, well thought, tremendous fighter, tremendous person. I cannot wait to see what you have next up, because whatever it is you guys know to be fun, make sure you guys go tap in everything Corey's doing. Thank you again for joining me, Corey. And thank you guys for watching another episode of the Daniel Cormier Show. For Corey Sandhagen, I'm D.C. peace.

[Corey Sandhagen]

Peace.

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

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