Cory Sandhagen was not thrilled when he found out he wasn’t fighting Sean O’Malley next, and that Aiemann Zahabi would get the shot at UFC White House instead.
O’Malley and Zahabi are set to compete at the Nation’s Capital on June 14 in a historic event headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the undisputed lightweight title.
Following the announcement, O’Malley said on The Ariel Helwani Show that he didn’t turn down a fight with Sandhagen because he was never offered it in the first place. Ahead of training partner Elias Rodriguez’s upcoming fight at LFA 230 this Friday, Sandhagen was asked about O’Malley’s response to the backlash.
“No, I mean the proper response — when you know that there’s a fight that everyone wants to see you fight in – the proper response when the UFC calls you and says, ‘Hey, we want to do you and so and so,’ you go, ‘Hey, what about this person? That’s who the people want to see,” Sandhagen told MMA Fighting. “That’s the proper response in that situation and that’s not what he gave.
“So, it sucks. I mean, it just sucks for everyone. I’m not too bummed about it because I’m going to fight more times and it’s not like I’m going to get a brand new contract or anything, or some big money to fight Sean. So it doesn’t matter to me as far as that, but it just sucks that the fans are calling for this one and it didn’t get to happen. That’s what sucks the most.
“But no, Sean’s proper response to that call is, ‘Hey, how, how about this fight because everyone’s already talking about that fight.’ But, yeah, I mean, it’s a little bit valid what he’s saying, but there was a proper response to that, and that’s what I would’ve done.”
Sandhagen and O’Malley both suffered title fight losses to then-champ Merab Dvalishvili in 2025, with Sandhagen dropping a decision at UFC 320 this past October.
The 33-year-old was asked if he’s been in a similar situation as O’Malley — where the UFC offered him a fight, and attempted to parlay that into a different matchup that made more sense.
“Yeah, good question, I don’t ever really feel like I’m on the A-side a ton,” Sandhagen joked. “[It’s] not that the UFC doesn’t like me or anything, but I definitely know that they like me, but I don’t think that I’ve ever been in a spot where I’m like, ‘You know what, no, this is what we should do,’ you know what I mean?
“Except for, I guess, when ‘Chito’ [Marlon Vera] fought Sean for the belt, I was like, ‘Hey guys, that probably should have been me.’”
As far as when Sandhagen wants to return to the octagon, he hopes he gets to do so this summer, and then compete again later in the year. Sandhagen also laid out his ideal activity for the next few years.
“Yeah, they’re discussing, [but] I’ll fight this summer,” Sandhagen explained. “That’s all I can really [say] until they give me more of a solid, ‘Hey, this is exactly what we’re doing,’ but yeah, I mean, it’s got to be this summer for sure.
“Hopefully International Fight Week is kind of what I told them that I’m shooting for. So, yeah, so I’m shooting on that and then just try to get two more a year for the next few years and then probably, that’ll be it for me. So I just want to fight twice a year for the next few years and then I’ll be a happy guy.”
One name that consistently gets thrown around — besides O’Malley — to face Sandhagen is surging bantamweight contender Payton Talbott, who most recently dominated Henry Cejudo in the former two-division champion’s final MMA fight at UFC 323 this past December.
Sandhagen says that the matchup was presented to him.
“I don’t really know what’s allowed to be said and what’s not or whatever, but they kind of floated that idea by me and I was game for it, and then they went in a different direction,” Sandhagen said.
“I said yes to that fight, But yeah, I thought that I was going to fight him for a couple days, started kind of getting ready for that a little bit, and then they decided to go in another direction and give me a different opponent, so that’s kind of where I’m at now.”
