Cory Sandhagen walked into High Altitude Martial Arts/ETC Aurora 8 years ago and last Saturday he walked into the UFC Octagon. This is every young martial artists dream come true. A dream that Cory bled and sweat for. A dream that he made a reality by working hard and never giving up. He has evolved so much as a person, fighter, and coach during this journey.
Cory was a 17 year old high school student attending Smoky Hill. He was on the basketball team and signed up at High Altitude to work on his general fitness. He watched some striking classes and thought it could help with his balance. After jumping into a few of Professor Christian Allen’s classes, he was hooked. Professor Christian saw something special in Cory and took him under his wing. Cory is widely known as Professor Christian’s protégé and while those are big shoes to fill, it drives and motivates Cory. After graduating high school, Cory got accepted into the University of Colorado at Boulder. He moved up there and continued training with Tyler Toner and at the Boulder academy.
Cory graduated with a degree in Psychology and works full time. He also is a kickboxing instructor at High Altitude and runs the youth kickboxing program there. When Cory isn’t working or teaching, he is training with the Elevation Fight Team. How he does it all, is still a mystery. Cory recently was promoted and is now an Easton brown belt.
Cory is a WAKO National and World Champion. He recently trained in Holland for a month and came home to win back to back fights in LFA. Immediately after the fight, while his hands were still wrapped, he got ‘the call’. The UFC offered to sign him and gave him a fight on just one week notice. Without hesitation, Cory started his new job with the UFC and on Saturday, he won his UFC debut by TKO in the second round. He put on an impressive and flawless performance. No words can describe how proud we are of him! Hes had one incredible journey thus far and the next chapter is just beginning.
Congratulations to Coach Cory! He couldn’t have done it without the HAMA/Easton family behind him.
