Cory Sandhagen sets sights on big name if he defeats Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320

Cory Sandhagen wouldn’t mind throwing down with a big star if he can snatch the UFC Bantamweight Championship from Merab Dvalishvili.

Sandhagen has a chance to earn gold for the first time in his career when he enters T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. He will challenge Dvalishvili for the 135-pound title in the UFC 320 co-headliner. It’s a big spot for Sandhagen, and he vows to become a UFC champion by the end of the weekend.

If Sandhagen can pull it off, then he will look forward to his first title defense. He’s definitely not opposed to sharing the Octagon with Sean O’Malley, who has name dropped him in the past. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Sandhagen put emphasis on the fact that he’ll be the A-side if he’s holding gold by the time he meets “Suga.”

“Yeah, for sure, O’Malley’s been on my radar, I’ve been on his radar for a long time, and yeah, I’ll be on the A-side of it this time,” Sandhagen told MMA Fighting. “For a long time, O’Malley was the more famous guy who didn’t really want to, I don’t think, have too many conversations about fighting me.

“But when you’re champ, everyone wants to fight you. So yeah, it’ll be fun to be on the A-side of the side of that conversation instead of feeling like I’m begging for a fight against a star. I’ll be the star.”

Since O’Malley is a big name, such a fight could potentially have UFC White House implications. Sandhagen wouldn’t mind if that’s the case.