“They’ve been asking to see that fight for a really long time” – Top UFC bantamweight lays out plan to face Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title

In the main event of UFC 299, Sean O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time by defeating Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera via a convincing unanimous decision. Although Merab Dvalishvili is currently seen as the top contender to challenge ‘Suga’ for the title, he is not the only bantamweight fighter with aspirations of facing the champion.

During a recent appearance on The Schmozone, Cory Sandhagen shared his plan to earn a title opportunity and expressed his desire for Sean O’Malley to remain at the top of the division. ‘The Sandman’ also discussed the possibility of facing Umar Nurmagomedov, stating:

“He’s a good fighter, too. He comes from a really good team. He’s been around champions for a really long time and that kind of goes a long way – you get to see how those guys act and think. I’m excited if that is the next one. It, in my head, is. I’m just kind of waiting on the date. I know that they want it to be a five rounder so I don’t think it’s going to happen at International Fight Week because we want to headline that show.”

The bantamweight currently ranked No.3 then added:

“That’s my man and I’m going to go out and I’m going to fight my a** off against Umar, build up some hype going into this fight. Hopefully O’Malley wins because I know that people want to see me and O’Malley fight. They’ve been asking to see that fight for a really long time. I’m going to do my d**nedest to go out there and beat Umar real well and build up as much hype for this title fight, hopefully against O’Malley sometime early next year.”

Take a look at Cory Sandhagen’s remarks regarding his journey to Sean O’Malley in the section below:

Originally scheduled to face off at UFC on ESPN 50 in August, Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov’s highly anticipated bout was derailed when Nurmagomedov had to pull out due to a shoulder injury. As a result, Sandhagen went on to fight Rob Font and emerged victorious with a dominant unanimous decision, despite tearing his triceps in the first round.

Sean O’Malley teases comeback fight in cryptic social media post

Despite previously stating that his return to the octagon would not happen until 2025, Sean O’Malley hinted otherwise in a one-word tweet on Monday. The reigning champion, also known as ‘Suga’, suggested that he may defend his title much sooner than originally anticipated, as he stated on X.

“Sugtember”

Take a look at the tweet by Sean O’Malley below:

Despite the bout not yet being confirmed, it seems likely that O’Malley will make his comeback to the octagon against Merab Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili, who is currently ranked No.1 in the bantamweight division, is on a 10-fight winning streak and has been vying for the chance to go up against ‘Suga’ for quite some time.