Cory Sandhagen didn’t hold back when addressing his long-standing desire to fight former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, making it clear he believes the matchup is both logical and overdue.
Speaking this week in an interview with Daniel Cormier, Sandhagen (18-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) said a fight with O’Malley (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) is “the only fight that makes sense” for both fighters, while also questioning O’Malley’s willingness to take the bout.
“It’s the only fight that makes sense for the both of us,” Sandhagen said. “I know that I’m better than him, and I want to go beat him, and I want to prove that I’m the better striker. I’m the better fighter just all around in general.”
The matchup had appeared to be gaining traction for the UFC’s June 14 event at the White House, but those plans shifted when O’Malley was instead booked to face Aiemann Zahabi.
Sandhagen, who has gone 1-2 in his last three fights with losses to Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili, acknowledged O’Malley’s abilities but took issue with what he sees as a calculated approach to matchmaking.
“Sean’s been on the record for being like, ‘This is a business to me. I want to take the easiest fight for the most amount of money,’” Sandhagen said. “Sean, as a person, I’m not going to carry any hatred towards him or jealousy or anything like that. I like Sean as a person. As a fan, I don’t think the way that that type of character or whatever is interesting or inspiring at all.”
Sandhagen contrasted that mindset with his own career choices, pointing to his willingness to take high-risk fights as a core part of his identity as a fighter.
“I think that one of the biggest gifts that we have as athletes to give to people is inspiration to go do something cool with your life too,” he said. “That means stepping up to the plate, taking big risks, like I have in my entire career.”
He added: “Why would you take a fight against Umar, he’s down in the rankings? Because if I win, then I get to inspire a bunch of people. If I go out and I beat Merab, I get to inspire a bunch of people because I know that I took the hard road to get here. O’Malley’s not about that life; so I can’t be a fan of that dude in that way on a personal level.”
Despite the criticism, Sandhagen stopped short of making it personal, emphasizing that his disagreement with O’Malley is rooted in philosophy rather than animosity.
“I think he’s good; I think he’s just a normal other human being trying to do his best in life and he has his values,” Sandhagen said. “But as a fan, I just can’t respect that much.”
Still, Sandhagen made it clear he believes O’Malley is actively avoiding the matchup.
“Watch the way that he answers all of the questions,” he said. “From his perspective, it’s like, ‘Cory’s a tough fight. Why would I take a tough fight when I could take an easier fight and make just as much money?’ That’s not the type of thinking that I walk around in life with.”
“So we’re just different and that’s okay,” Sandhagen continued. “But yeah, I definitely think he doesn’t want that fight, or else I think it’d be booked by now.”
