Cory Sandhagen paid close attention to the rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley at UFC 316. His interest was personal; he anticipates facing the winner for the bantamweight championship later this year.
Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley for the second time, delivering an even more dominant performance. He controlled the first two rounds comprehensively before securing a fight-ending choke in the third round. This was a significant setback for O’Malley, who has become one of the UFC`s most popular fighters. With two losses now to the current champion, his position in the immediate title picture is uncertain.
Leading up to the fight, O’Malley disclosed that he had made substantial personal changes to better prepare for Dvalishvili. However, the result was the same, and Sandhagen expressed understanding regarding O’Malley`s disappointment.
“I kind of feel for Sean,” Sandhagen commented. “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.”
Regarding the bout itself, Sandhagen felt O’Malley simply didn`t perform well. While he managed to defend several of Dvalishvili’s takedowns, O’Malley didn’t generate much offense of his own.
The decisive moment came in the third round when O’Malley was caught in a grappling exchange on the canvas, allowing Dvalishvili to lock in the choke that finished the contest. Dvalishvili`s clear superiority impressed Sandhagen, while also intensifying his motivation to eventually defeat him in the octagon.
“The fight itself, Sean looked a little bit off, even more off than the last time,” Sandhagen noted. “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 world champion finally.”
Currently, Sandhagen`s primary focus is securing a date and venue for his championship fight against Dvalishvili, aiming to finally realize his goal of becoming a UFC titleholder. However, he is aware of the considerable interest in a potential future fight between himself and O’Malley, given their contrasting styles.
Should Sandhagen defeat Dvalishvili for the belt, it could revitalize O’Malley’s career path, potentially opening the door for him to challenge for the title again. But does O’Malley have the capacity to correct his weaknesses and rise back up the ranks?
“I think he does,” Sandhagen stated confidently. “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 publicly discussed lifestyle changes like abstaining from marijuana, social media, and video games in preparation for the rematch, Sandhagen believes the essential adjustments O’Malley needs to make are more fundamental, residing within his technical skills and training methodology.
At his best, O’Malley possesses devastating knockout power and precision striking. However, his two fights against Dvalishvili highlighted deficiencies in other areas of his game. Sandhagen anticipates O’Malley will work to resolve these issues, possibly leading to a future encounter between them, perhaps with Sandhagen as champion.
“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 explained.
“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.”
Although a matchup against O’Malley is a possibility down the line, Sandhagen`s immediate focus is solely on the upcoming title fight with Dvalishvili. He has not yet received an official offer from the UFC, but after speaking with Dvalishvili backstage following his recent win, Sandhagen is confident their clash will occur in the near future.
“I know Merab was saying sometime in November or December,” Sandhagen shared. “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.”
