Opinion: In Support of the ‘Sandman’

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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UFC on ESPN 67 saw Cory Sandhagen secure a lopsided victory over two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo on May 3 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Sandhagen scored a second-round stoppage when Figueiredo suffered a knee injury after a series of 50/50 battles on the ground. To no one’s surprise, Sandhagen called for a title shot after the win—something that seems to happen after virtually every fighter in the Top 5 gets his hand raised. I’ll admit, I tend to roll my eyes at the practice, at least when I disagree with them. I didn’t roll my eyes this time, but I originally thought Sandhagen was speaking about a pipe dream. As I began to think about it, I realized he was right. He should have next.

The reason why I didn’t originally agree with him is that Sandhagen entered the bout coming off a one-sided loss to Umar Nurmagomedov. Outside of immediate rematches, it’s rare when a title challenger secures his shot without a winning streak. While Sandhagen looked fantastic against Figueiredo, more momentum is typically needed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to give the thumbs up to an aspiring contender. It’s not like the loss to Nurmagomedov was the only setback Sandhagen had suffered, either, as he has endured four losses over the past five years. By comparison, Merab Dvalishvili has none over that spread, and Sean O’Malley has just two. Even if those losses came against top competition, winning matters and Sandhagen wasn’t doing so consistently enough. Plus, it would generally put him at a disadvantage in making a case against those who are also vying for a title shot.

Of course, if I dig in deeper, there are several factors that thin out that argument. The oldest of those losses came to Aljamain Sterling, who now fights at featherweight. Another was to the now-retired T.J. Dillashaw. Then there’s Petr Yan—Sandhagen’s primary competition for a title shot and a man presently on a two-fight winning streak. Those victories aren’t pithy, though, having come over Figueiredo and Yadong Song. Unfortunately for Yan, he also has four losses over the last five years. More importantly, he has losses to both Dvalishvili and O’Malley. He might have an argument should O’Malley emerge victorious, given that his contest with “Sugar Sean” was controversial, but the UFC is likely looking to delay a rematch between him and Dvalishvili due to the lopsided nature of their fight. However, even the O’Malley win isn’t secure. O’Malley has avoided most of the top competition of the division, and fresh matchups might be more attractive.

Returning to Sandhagen, Nurmagomedov is the other fighter to whom he has lost. He hasn’t fought since falling to Dvalishvili in their title contest at the beginning of the year. I have a hard time believing he will receive another opportunity without securing at least one more win. Much like Yan, he’d benefit from an O’Malley victory, but getting himself scheduled for a fight would be even more beneficial. If I were to venture a guess, I would expect him to be booked against Song, as I anticipate Yan taking his chances of getting the same call for which Sandhagen is asking.

That leaves just Sandhagen, in large part because he hasn’t faced either Dvalishvili or O’Malley. Given Sandhagen has only faced Top 10 competition since 2019, it’s almost unbelievable that he hasn’t faced either man. It’s even crazier when you consider the UFC did everything in its power to keep Dvalishvili from entering the title picture, forcing him to win 10 in a row before granting him a shot. It’s less surprising he hasn’t faced O’Malley, as the UFC has also done everything in its power to protect “Sugar Sean.” That’s not me saying O’Malley is a bad fighter; that’s just me stating facts. After all, O’Malley is getting an immediate rematch despite the first fight with Dvalishvili not being close.

Should O’Malley end up winning back the title at UFC 316, the consensus is that there will be a rubber match with Dvalishvili, which would put Sandhagen on ice. While I would agree that’s the most likely scenario, I don’t believe it’s a lock. The UFC would never outright admit it, but it doesn’t care for Dvalishvili. No sane fight organization would admit something like that, but actions speak louder than words and the company’s actions suggest it would be happy to send Dvalishvili down the ladder. It’s not like it granted an immediate rematch to his teammate, Sterling, when he lost the belt to O’Malley, despite “Funk Master” owning the UFC bantamweight record for successful consecutive title defenses.

Further proof would be the UFC not offering Dvalishvili any sort of championship advantage. While the upcoming contest is an immediate rematch for O’Malley, it’s a relatively quick turnaround for Dvalishvili, who defended the belt in January. Thus, he’ll be the first champion to defend his title for a second time within this calendar year. That type of strategy worked for the UFC and O’Malley once before. Sterling had a mere three and a half-month turnaround when he lost to O’Malley. I understand five months isn’t a particularly rapid turnaround, but it will be the third fight in nine months for the reigning champion compared to O’Malley sitting on the sidelines and resting up rather than proving he deserves a rematch. Either the UFC really doesn’t like Dvalishvili or it really wants O’Malley to be champion. Perhaps both. Given how much the UFC doesn’t care for Dvalishvili, it isn’t far out of bounds to believe Sandhagen could have next even if O’Malley secures the victory.

With all that said, there is a wild card out there that might spoil the party for Sandhagen. UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja is in a similar situation to Dvalishvili in that he already possesses wins over the most obvious contenders at 125 pounds. That includes Kai Kara-France—the man he will be defending against at UFC 317. Pantoja’s victory over Kara-France may have been in an exhibition contest, but it was a win. Nevertheless, given that two champions have largely cleaned out their respective divisions, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the UFC grant Pantoja an opportunity to become a two-division titleholder, provided the organization is still down with allowing that to happen. After all, the UFC forced Ilia Topuria to vacate his title before he was free to move up to lightweight.

I don’t believe there’s going to be an outcry if Sandhagen doesn’t get the next shot. There certainly won’t be one from me. Nevertheless, if we’re going off the typical criteria, Sandhagen is the best available option, even if that isn’t immediately obvious.