Cory Sandhagen may be a genius when it comes to making money outside the Octagon, but he’s also refreshingly honest about what’s true and what’s not. The bantamweight contender has returned to the spotlight, but not just for his fights. According to a popular myth, ‘The Sandman’ made more than $2 million on OnlyFans in a single month, but how true is it? Well, we finally have an answer now.
He’s not raking in the dough just yet. Cory Sandhagen revealed during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show that while the number is inflated, OnlyFans has been a successful side hustle, thanks primarily to the instructional videos he sells and the sponsorship checks the platform keeps sending.
“I don’t sell them for a ton,” he explained. “Just because the OnlyFans sponsorship makes up for a good chunk of what I was making before.” It’s not shocking; it’s simply clever. And with people continually purchasing his tutorials, ‘The Sandman’ may not be swimming in viral cash, but he has certainly converted it into a consistent source of income.
Still, it wouldn’t be a Cory Sandhagen narrative without some well-timed weirdness. During the podcast interview with Helwani, the 33-year-old discussed an idea he ran past his wife—one that did not quite make it past the pitch.
“I was like, ‘All right, we can maybe capitalize on this. Let’s put a picture of my b—- up there behind a paywall of $200,000.’” His logic? If someone buys it, that’s terrific. If not, the joke still worked. “It would just be a s— iPhone picture… and if no one buys it, that’s hilarious.” Unsurprisingly, his wife declined.
August 5, 2023, Nashville, TN, USA: CORY SANDHAGEN during Catchweight bout at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. Nashville USA – ZUMAr187 20230805_zsp_r187_049 Copyright: xJustinxRenfroex
Cory Sandhagen’s growth on OnlyFans is ultimately driven by strategy rather than gimmicks. His content is not risqué; it is instructional. If you’re a fighter trying to generate passive money, he’s practically laid out the plan: share your knowledge, maintain your sense of humor, and don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.
And if you end up making news for your hypothetical b—- business strategy along the way, that’s OK. But what’s not okay, according to him, is a fighter chickening out or being afraid of his opponent. And it was something that he saw when Sean O’Malley went one-on-one against Merab Dvalishvili.
Cory Sandhagen goes all out against Sean O’Malley
Cory Sandhagen understands what it’s like to lose a fight you thought you had won—but sympathy can only go so far. Sandhagen was disgusted and irritated after watching Sean O’Malley fall to Merab Dvalishvili in the second match. To him, it wasn’t just that O’Malley lost, but how he lost. O’Malley’s swagger, timing, and sense of danger were no longer present.
Instead, ‘The Sandman’ saw someone preoccupied with cosmic signs and vibes rather than preparing for the approaching storm. He did not hold back. The breakdown wasn’t nasty, but it was honest—perhaps too honest for fans of ‘Suga’ Sean. Sandhagen noted O’Malley’s hype machine leading up to the rematch, as well as fans’ belief that one clean punch might change everything.
But, as Sandhagen saw it, the punch was never coming. “This fight [at UFC 316], to me, he didn’t look hardly in control at all,” he added, emphasizing how Dvalishvili just left no room for O’Malley to breathe, let alone land something noteworthy. The idea that O’Malley had a “puncher’s chance” began to seem like wishful thinking to him—something that didn’t belong at the top of a stacked division.
Now that O’Malley has been knocked out of the immediate title picture and Merab Dvalishvili is standing tall, Cory Sandhagen is exactly where he has always wanted to be. The win versus Deiveson Figueiredo was more than just a resume boost; it was a message. And, with a clear view of the chaos around him, Sandhagen has just one message to the division: bring it.
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