Sean O’Malley teases Cory Sandhagen title bout at UFC White House card

Sean O’Malley envisions a big spot on a particular card mapped out for the Summer of 2026. The former 135 pound titleholder has also teased a potentially interesting matchup for it. This was referenced by ‘Suga’ Sean on his YouTube channel recently. The popular star does see a path to where he can win a fight in the interim.

Then from there, catapult to another opportunity for the bantamweight championship he once had. The card he sees that transpiring on is the UFC White House card.

There have been reports about a Song Yadong bout being in the works. While not official, O’Malley has also indicated he would be down for a return bout as early as November. O’Mallay also specifically indicated intrigue in that Yadong bout if it were offered to him.

That could time out nicely with the looming October 4th bantamweight title bout between reigning champion Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen set to go down. While he has two losses to Dvalishvili in title fights, the Georgian being unseated from his throne could behoove O’Malley.

In terms of a particular 2026 card that he is eyeballing and who his dance partner for that card could be, O’Malley said [via MMA Junkie],

“Yeah, the White House card, if Cory [Sandhagen] goes out there and wins, I beat whoever is next, that’s interesting. But regardless, I want to fight within the next four or five months or whatever it is, so that I’ll also be ready for that because they [UFC] said it could be in June, could be International Fight Week or could be July.”

“So if I can get one in early next year or at the end of [this] year, one of the two, count me in. I want to be on that card. Dude, being on the Sphere card, being on the White House card, these are legendary moments that are once in a lifetime f***ing moments.”

Sean O’Malley gives Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen overview for UFC 320

In terms of how he sees the next bantamweight championship bout playing out at UFC 320, O’Malley stated [via MMA Junkie],

“Part of me feels like Merab’s going to go out there and do kind of what he did to me, grab a hold of him, wrestle, takedown, just get outwrestled, just kind of stay on him. Then part of me is like, Cory’s hungry, Cory wants it, he’s going to go out there, he’s going to find a way to win.”

“He’s got a good gas tank, it just depends what style of fight plays out. [If] Merab goes and takes him down three times, four times, Cory tries and wrestles him, Merab is going to out-gas him all day there.”