Sandhagen Calls for O’Malley Fight
Cory Sandhagen called for a fight with Sean O’Malley after UFC 311, arguing that the UFC should book them instead of an immediate O’Malley rematch with Merab Dvalishvili. Their paths later crossed the same division’s title picture, while Sandhagen’s callout never became a booked bout. MMA Mania reported Sandhagen’s challenge and comments.
Sandhagen called for O’Malley after UFC 311
After UFC 311 on Jan. 18, 2025, Sandhagen urged the promotion to match him with O’Malley. He questioned the case for an immediate rematch with Dvalishvili, who had beaten O’Malley by unanimous decision at UFC 306. MMA Mania reported the callout. Sandhagen’s prior loss was to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Night in August 2024, not UFC 311; UFC’s official results record Nurmagomedov’s unanimous-decision win.
O’Malley rematched Dvalishvili; Sandhagen fought for the title
The rematch went ahead at UFC 316 on June 7, 2025. Dvalishvili submitted O’Malley with a ninja choke at 4:42 of Round 3. UFC’s official results confirm the finish.
Sandhagen returned to the win column with a second-round TKO of Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night in Des Moines in May 2025, then challenged Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title at UFC 320. Dvalishvili won that October bout by unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-46). UFC’s official scorecards list the judges’ totals.
O’Malley later returned with a unanimous-decision win over Song Yadong at UFC 324 in January 2026, according to UFC’s event recap. The original Sandhagen-O’Malley challenge remains a proposed matchup rather than a bout that took place.
