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Sean O’Malley’s coach expects Cory Sandhagen to avoid striking battle after UFC 320 defeat

Originally posted on HITC | By Christopher De Santiago | Last updated Oct 17, 2025 10:44 AM ET

O’Malley and Sandhagen have yet to face each other inside the Octagon, but they do share several common opponents, including Merab Dvalishvili, Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan and Chito Vera.

Sandhagen’s interest in fighting O’Malley goes back some time, with both fighters known for their striking skills in the 135-pound division.

After losing his belt to Dvalishvili at UFC 320, O’Malley was open to the idea of facing ‘Sandman’, even mentioning it during the UFC’s event at the White House in June.

But after his most recent showing, O’Malley’s head coach doesn’t expect Sandhagen will want any part of a stand-up fight with the former champ.

Tim Welch expects Cory Sandhagen to use grappling against Sean O’Malley

Sandhagen held his own early on, putting together a decent opening round. But things changed quickly in the second when Dvalishvili nearly finished him with strikes.

That’s left Tim Welch thinking Sandhagen might not want to risk trading punches with O’Malley if the fight ever gets booked.

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“Cory is not an easy guy because he’s so good at mixing it in,” Welch said of Sandhagen as an opponent for O’Malley on his YouTube channel.

“But I do think you saw how hurt he was vs. Merab hitting him. And Merab is confident. He’s throwing those punches hard. But again, Suga f—— hits people hard, dude.

“And he hits them on the money, lights out, hurts them to their body real hard, and then he finds a spot to put it on the money. Boom. To just KO somebody.”

Welch added that he sees O’Malley as a much harder puncher than anyone Sandhagen has faced before.

He said: “I think it’ll be the first guy Cory’s fought who hits as hard as Suga.”

If they do end up fighting, Welch doesn’t expect Sandhagen to stand and trade for long: “Cory, he’s gonna be trying to shoot… He’s not gonna just sit there and strike with Sean. He says he is, but he’s not.”

Cory Sandhagen open to facing Sean O’Malley at UFC White House event

Sandhagen would be happy to face O’Malley on the White House lawn. Speaking on the Ariel Helwani Show following his loss to Dvalishvili, Sandhagen said he wants a piece of ‘Suga’ next summer.

“Me and O’Malley has to happen,” Sandhagen said. “That White House card would be sick to fight on against O’Malley. That would be such a gigantic fight.” Sandhagen then predicted how he sees that match-up going for him.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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