UFC 320: Cory Sandhagen says Sean O’Malley doesn’t deserve next title shot, eyes other top contenders

Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen have never fought despite their parallel rises and steady holds as elite bantamweights. Ahead of Sandhagen’s title fight at UFC 320, O’Malley wants to book their elusive fight on the biggest stage — The White House.

Sandhagen challenges bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili on Oct. 4. While dissecting the fight, O’Malley expressed interest in finally fighting Sandhagen at the UFC’s upcoming White House card if each man enters the new year victorious.

“The White House card, Cory goes out there and wins, I beat whoever’s next, that’s interesting,” O’Malley said on his “BrO’Malley Show” podcast. “But regardless, I want to fight within the next four or five months, whatever it is, and then I’ll also be ready for that…

“Being on the Sphere card, being on the White House card, these are just legendary moments. They’re once in a lifetime f—ing moments.”

Sandhagen is interested in the pagentry, but fighting O’Malley isn’t his top priority. Sandhagen wants to be an active champion should he achieve the difficult feat of dethroning Dvalishvili. “The Sandman” also wants to fight the top contenders, which he currently believes are two men who’ve bested him in the past: Umar Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan.

“I think that Umar and Yan are the more deserving guys right now,” Sandhagen told CBS Sports. “I definitely want to be an active champ. This fight is in October. I’d like to fight in the first quarter of next year against Yan or Umar. Once I get one of those back, we’ll see what happens for the summer card, whether it’s O’Malley or Yan or Umar. 

“I think that O’Malley and I at the White House would be sweet. Hopefully, he gets a couple of wins so we can do that. He needs to get some wins because he’s fallen a little bit behind.”

Former UFC bantamweight champion O’Malley is coming off consecutive losses to Dvalishvili. Nurmagomedov, while also coming off a loss to the current champ, holds a recent win over Sandhagen. Among those three, Yan is the only one on a winning streak after defeating Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Marcus McGhee in succession. Without a definitive clear contender, it’s also possible UFC books an immediate rematch if Sandhagen beats Dvalishvili at UFC 320.

UFC 320 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira headlines the card with the UFC light heavyweight title at stake.