Cory Sandhagen has explained why he wants to fight Merab Dvalishvili and not Sean O’Malley, despite the latter being the more favourable matchup.
Since earning a decision victory against Marlon Vera at UFC San Antonio, Sandhagen has been calling for a potential title eliminator against Dvalishvili, but many fans and pros think a fight against O’Malley would be a better matchup compared to the Georgian, who’s a terror on the mat. ‘The Sandman’ isn’t scared of ‘The Machine’ however, and wants to fight him no matter what.
Cory Sandhagen On Merab Dvalishvili
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda (as transcribed by MMA Junkie), Sandhagen said although O’Malley is a pretty good fighter, he’s not as tough a challenge as Dvalishvili.
“That’s when it just comes down to the value thing,” Sandhagen said. “O’Malley is a good fighter, but he’s not as tough of a challenge as Merab. Am I going to call out that guy that I know is not that tough of a challenge just because everyone makes him out to be a very famous, popular guy?
“I don’t really care about the fame and the popularity too much. I’m going to operate on the value system that I have, which is ask for the toughest challenge – and that’s Merab. It’s not O’Malley. That’s hopefully who I get next.”
As far as O’Malley is concerned, he thinks he will fight the winner of the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.
Who do you think would win a potential bantamweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and Merab Dvalishvili?
