Cory Sandhagen is furious after Sean O’Malley called out Marlon Vera for his first title defense at bantamweight.
O’Malley Jumps the Gun
Tomorrow night, Sean O’Malley (16-1-0 MMA, 8-1-0 1 NC UFC) challenges incumbent 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling (23-3-0 UFC 16-3-0 MMA) in Boston, Massachusetts. In an unusual move, the ever-confident O’Malley has looked past Sterling and called out Marlon Vera, the only man to ever beat O’Malley. He defeated him by way of TKO in August 2020 at UFC 252.
“Chito” is busy tomorrow night as well, as he takes on Pedro Munhoz in a 135-pound bout of his own. This is likely to determine next-in-line for the bantamweight bout behind Cory Sandhagen, who recently defeated Rob Font via decision.
Cory Sandhagen Furious in Response
O’Malley’s comment frustrated Cory Sandhagen, saying: “That’s some weak sauce, man. You want to fight the guy that other people are beating? That kind of bothers me about the way O’Malley thinks a little bit.”
His complaint is in reference to his commanding win over Marlon Vera in Vera’s last bout, one that he somehow only won by split decision. He has an interesting perspective on fights and the sport of MMA as a whole. He argued that to be the best, you have to beat the best, not just hold the title.
“It’s not even just Sean O’Malley. It’s the way that sometimes the sport is set up where it’s like take the easiest fight for the least amount of money. That’s going to ruin some stuff. Don’t you want to when you win the belt to say that you’re the actual best because you fought the best guys? That’s my approach,” Sandhagen told reporters at the UFC 292 media day.
Sandhagen’s Future
Due to a tricep injury sustained in his fight against Rob Font, Cory Sandhagen (17-4 MMA 10-3 UFC) sees a long wait in his future. According to him, he does not expect to make a return to the Octagon until the first quarter of 2024.
He spoke with MMAJunkie on his future and plans at bantamweight, saying: ““If this (right arm) wasn’t hurt, I would be expecting to fight for a title at the end of the year against whoever it would be against, whether Sterling wins and leaves (the division for featherweight) or whether Sean O’Malley wins and it’s against him. That would be what I would expect.”
He continued: ““Now I’m probably like eight months away from getting back into the cage. I’m six months from being like 100 percent healthy and then eight months from being able to fight. So I’m not going to think too far into it. I think there’s going to be this one this weekend, one more and maybe December, January and then maybe me. But I don’t know – we’ll see.”
Is Cory Sandhagen next up at 135 pounds? What do you think?
Featured Image Credits to Embed from Getty Images
