Cory Sandhagen expects Sean O'Malley to climb the ranks again, but 'can't be a one-trick pony anymore'

05/07/2025 15:00

Cory Sandhagen had a vested interest in the rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley at UFC 316 because he always expected to face the winner in a title fight later this year.

Dvalishvili vanquished O'Malley for a second time, but he was even more dominant after controlling the action through the first two rounds before sinking in a fight-ending choke in the third round. It was an understandably tough loss for O'Malley, who rocketed to stardom as one of the most magnetic draws in the UFC, but now finds himself stuck in no man's land when it comes to the bantamweight title after suffering two losses to the current champion.

Prior to the fight, O'Malley revealed he made wholesale lifestyle changes to better prepare himself for the rematch against Dvalisvhili, but the result was the same and Sandhagen sympathizes with him in that regard.

"I kind of feel for Sean," Sandhagen told MMA Fighting. "Sean's one of those guys that kind of thinks about life in terms of a journey and all of that stuff and I can relate to that big time. So I know the feeling of changing a lot of stuff about your life in hopes that it will translate over into fighting and then also hope that you'll get a good result from it. It sucks that life doesn't always work like that. So I kind of feel for him a little bit."

When it came to the fight itself, Sandhagen admits O'Malley definitely didn't have a good night at the office because outside of shutting down several of Dvalishvili's takedowns, he never produced much offense of his own.

Disaster struck in the third round when O'Malley was caught in a grappling scramble on the ground before Dvalishvili latched onto the choke that put him away. Dvalishvili's dominance impressed Sandhagen while also adding even more motivation to go out there and beat him when they finally meet in the octagon.

"The fight itself, Sean looked a little bit off, even more off than the last time," Sandhagen said. "I don't really know what that's about. I mean Merab looked super on. I think Merab's building some really good momentum.

"I think that he's getting more confident in each fight and I'm really excited to face that challenge. I think that I'm the guy to beat him. I just can't wait to actually be a f*cking world champion finally."

Right now, Sandhagen's only focus is getting a date and location for his fight against Dvalishvili as he seeks to finally live out his dream and compete for a UFC title. But it's not lost on Sandhagen that there was plenty of enthusiasm for a potential fight between him and O'Malley given their styles and the way they match up together.

Sandhagen beating Dvalishvili to become champion would also inject new life into O'Malley's career because that would open the door for him to get back into title contention. But does O'Malley have what it takes to correct past mistakes and climb back up the ranks?

"I think he does," Sandhagen answered. "O'Malley kind of gets labeled as a star first before he gets labeled as a good fighter. I think O'Malley's a really, really good fighter. He's a super athletic guy, also, so when you're that athletic, you're capable of making a lot of changes in your game and stuff.

"If you don't pick things up very quickly, it can be hard to change. But Sean definitely has that ability, just him being a really good athlete so I think he definitely can."

While O'Malley spoke a lot about giving up marijuana, quitting social media and no longer playing video games as a way for him to focus on the Dvalishvili rematch, Sandhagen believes the real changes he needs to make come down to his training and preparation.

At his best, O'Malley was a sniper with devastating knockout power, but his two fights with Dvalishvili exposed holes in his game. Sandhagen expects O'Malley to address those issues and then perhaps they'll cross paths one day in the future as champion and challenger.

"I think he just has to change a few things, not like in his personal life but in his technical fighting style of stuff and then just be able to grapple with these guys that are really good grapplers," Sandhagen said.

"He got away for a long time just being able to one-shot, knock people out. Now he's facing some for real well-rounded, really good fighters and you just can't be a one-trick pony anymore."

A matchup against O'Malley might be in his future, but Sandhagen is only concerned with one thing right now and that's the title fight with Dvalishvili. He hasn't received an official offer from the UFC just yet, but after speaking with Dvalishvili backstage following his latest win, Sandhagen is confident they'll clash in the near future.

"I know Merab was saying sometime in November or December," Sandhagen said. "That works for me, too. These things take a little bit of time or whatever but I'm pretty confident. I feel good about it and I'm super excited to finally get my title shot."