After UFC Bantamweight Champ’s Merab Dvalishvili dominated and ended with a rematch at UFC 316, Sean O’Malley volunteered for his service for a very short turnaround.
O’Malley has lost a back-to-back battle with Dvalishvili, but in a recent interview he said he wanted to face another top-ranked 135-pounder on his July pay-per-view card after the scheduled co-main event of UFC 318 fell.
“I was actually trying to fight Cory (Sandhagen). Overdog podcast. “I dumped my name into the UFC. For three weeks, I’ll be sweet to Corey.”
UFC 318 left Dustin Poirier’s retirement off, facing Max Holloway in his final match and lost his decision. The cards may have certainly used boosts in terms of star power, but this event was primarily about Poirier and his career.
In addition to that, Sandhagen is currently set to challenge Dvalishvili for the title at UFC 320 in October.
“It didn’t make any sense for the UFC,” O’Malley said. “The battle was the next battle for Cory vs. Merab.
“But yeah. It’s a very interesting battle between me and Corey. It’s something that’s supposed to happen sooner than that.”
O’Malley spends nearly 40 minutes with Octagon with Dvalishvili and knows what a “machine” brings to the table. As a gaming student, he understands how good Sandhagen is on the whole.
When asked what the title fight looked like, “Sugar” gave his views.
“Me and Corey have very similar styles,” O’Malley said. “Colee did a good job of Umar creating a scramble and keeping his hips high when Umar tried to reach his back. Umar and Merab have a variety of grappling strengths and techniques.
“But if man, Merab could get Corey, I just can’t see… Merab felt so strong, and really strong in a certain position. His gas tank is ridiculous.