Sean O`Malley is struggling to pick a favorite in the upcoming bantamweight championship co-main event at UFC 320. O`Malley will be closely following the event in Las Vegas as Merab Dvalishvili, the former champion, defends his title. After defeating O`Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili is now set to face Cory Sandhagen, whose versatile skillset is widely considered a serious test for `The Machine`. Despite having firsthand knowledge of Dvalishvili`s strengths, O`Malley surprisingly views Sandhagen as the more skilled fighter.
Sean O`Malley: Cory Sandhagen Possesses More Extensive Skills Than Merab Dvalishvili
O`Malley aims to reclaim the 135-pound title and understands that to do so, he might have to get past either Sandhagen or Dvalishvili. With this in mind, he closely analyzed their upcoming bout on Mike Perry`s Overdogs Podcast. O`Malley compared Dvalishvili`s dominant wrestling style to Khabib Nurmagomedov`s, yet stated that Sandhagen is, overall, the more skilled fighter.
“Me and Cory have very similar styles,” O`Malley said. “Cory did a really good job against Umar; creating scrambles, keeping his hips high when Umar tried to get to his back. If Merab can get a hold of Cory, I just don`t see — Merab felt just so strong… his gas tank is ridiculous.”
O`Malley continued: “If I had to guess, Merab, but it`s hard for me to count Cory out. I truly believe Cory, skill for skill, is one of the best guys in the UFC. I think he`s got more overall skills than Merab. But that specific skillset Merab possesses is so good, so dominant, very Khabib-like in a sense.”
Cory Sandhagen Reacts Positively to Sean O`Malley`s White House Callout
While O`Malley might struggle to secure another title shot as long as Dvalishvili remains the bantamweight champion, a victory for Sandhagen at UFC 320 could open new opportunities. If the challenger wins the belt, O`Malley expressed a desire to face Sandhagen at the White House in 2026. This early callout received a positive response from `The Sandman` ahead of the upcoming Las Vegas event.
“Yeah, for sure, O`Malley`s been on my radar, and I`ve been on his for a long time. And yeah, I`ll be on the A-side of it this time,” Sandhagen told MMA Fighting. “For a long time, O`Malley was the more famous guy who, I don`t think, really wanted to have too many conversations about fighting me. But when you`re champ, everyone wants to fight you. So yeah, it`ll be fun to be on the A-side of that conversation instead of feeling like I`m begging for a fight against a star. I`ll be the star.”
Regarding the White House event, he added: “You know, it`s gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It feels like it`s like the Sphere, but on steroids. Everyone was excited about the Sphere, and this is going to take it to a whole new level, dude.”
