Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen have yet to face each other despite their impressive journeys in the bantamweight division. Ahead of Sandhagen’s upcoming title clash at UFC 320, O’Malley has proposed to hold their potentially thrilling matchup at the White House.
Cory Sandhagen is set to challenge bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili on October 4. In the lead-up to this event, O’Malley expressed his desire for a showdown with Sandhagen on the White House card if both come out victorious.
“The White House card, Cory goes out there and wins, I beat whoever’s next, that’s interesting,” O’Malley mentioned 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…”
O’Malley emphasized the significance of fighting at notable venues, stating, “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.”
While Sandhagen acknowledges the appeal of fighting O’Malley, his focus remains on proving himself as a champion. He intends to challenge top contenders he has faced before, namely Umar Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan.
“I think that Umar and Yan are the more deserving guys right now,” Sandhagen expressed. “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.”
Sandhagen also pointed out, “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.”
O’Malley is recovering from back-to-back losses to Dvalishvili, while Nurmagomedov recently defeated Sandhagen, putting them in a competitive spot moving forward. If Sandhagen triumphs against Dvalishvili, a potential rematch could also be in the works without a clear contender currently established.
UFC 320 will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, featuring Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira for the UFC light heavyweight title.
