Sean O’Malley lost his UFC bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili in the worst way possible. The American fighter looked flat and was dominated for five rounds, losing the fight via unanimous decision. While O’Malley is eager to get his title back, top bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen has proposed a different plan.
Sandhagen’s original plan was to fight O’Malley for the title. However, his dreams were crushed after his loss earlier this year. O’Malley’s title loss has opened Sandhagen’s opportunity to trade hands with ‘Suga’ without the title on the line. In a recent interview with The Schmo, ‘Sandman’ suggested O’Malley quit complaining and sign the contract.
Me and O’Malley is like the biggest fight that you could maybe make right now in the division outside of the title fight – maybe even in the UFC…O’Malley, I wish would just quit acting like a troll, like he won that last fight, he got dominated… Fight me, what are you doing
Cory Sandhagen via The Schmo
Initially, ‘Suga’ took the loss with grace and made jokes about it. However, the attitude took a quick shift after he claimed Dvalishvili won because of robbery by the judges. The superstar fighter claimed that he won the majority of the rounds. As expected, Suga received a variety of criticism for his outrageous claims. Even Sandhagen feels it has gotten out of hand.
Cory Sandhagen wants to fight Sean O’Malley in March/April and doesn’t know “why he wants such a long layoff”
“There’s no question man. That’s the only fight in the division that’s like the most exciting fight.”
🎥 @TheSchmo312 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/USF9BusUQP
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 7, 2024
O’Malley’s online rant did help him to get a potential title rematch with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 309. However, after his recent surgery, that might not be possible. With top contender Umar Nurmagomedov aiming for the title shot, O’Malley might have to wait for a little longer. Sometime after March of 2025 could mark Suga’s return to the UFC.
Sean O’Malley vs. Cory Sandhagen in early 2025?
Sean O’Malley‘s title run was brief but entertaining, which helped him amass a huge fan following. Despite the loss, Sean O’Malley is still a superstar with a huge fanbase. As a result, fighters like Cory Sandhagen are so eager to share the octagon with him.
After his loss, O’Malley discussed taking a huge gap and staying away from the octagon. However, it seems like the Suga is twitching to fight again. O’Malley recently had his hip surgery and announced that he would return in early 2025.
I wanna be back ASAP… I wanna get back in there April, May, June. June will be latest. I think I can be back before that. March maybe would be crazy
Sean O’Malley via his YouTube channel
Sean O’Malley talks a return to the cage, and says we could see him as early as March 2025 👀
“I wanna be back ASAP… I wanna get back in there April, May, June. June will be latest. I think I can be back before that. March maybe would be crazy.”
🎥 YT / @SugaSeanMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/IDM95bnsFZ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 6, 2024
Cory Sandhagen is also known for his crisp striking, and a fight between him and O’Malley can become an all-time classic. As Sandhagen said, it’s one of the best match-ups currently possible in all of UFC. So far, O’Malley has yet to entertain a fight. It would be interesting to see if the promotion gives the green light.
