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Cory Sandhagen wanted Sean O'Malley at UFC Freedom 250.
Instead, former champion O'Malley (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) will take on streaking bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) on the June 14 event at the White House.
O'Malley insists that he was never offered Sandhagen (18-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC), but the former title challenger is noticing a recent pattern in O'Malley's matchmaking.
"I think I'm a tough fight for him," Sandhagen told Home of Fight. "Sean's whole thing is keeping space and being long and fighting from the outside, and against me, he won't be able to do that. Sean's really good at low-risk, high-reward types of matches, which is a shame because I don't think that really speaks to people and the fans as much as big risks.
"I remember I was probably the biggest fan of O'Malley when he stepped up to fight (Petr) Yan, and then when he fought (Aljamain) Sterling. Even though the Sterling fight was a little bit – he had an entire year to get ready for Sterling, and Sterling was being active during that time. Even then, Sean was most inspiring and most impressive when he was stepping up to the plate, and it's just a lame way to go about doing things (now)."
After losing two straight title fights to Merab Dvalishvili, O'Malley rebounded with a close decision win over Song Yadong at UFC 324 in January.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cory Sandhagen irked by UFC"s recent matchmaking for Sean O'Malley
Continue reading...
Instead, former champion O'Malley (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) will take on streaking bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) on the June 14 event at the White House.
O'Malley insists that he was never offered Sandhagen (18-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC), but the former title challenger is noticing a recent pattern in O'Malley's matchmaking.
"I think I'm a tough fight for him," Sandhagen told Home of Fight. "Sean's whole thing is keeping space and being long and fighting from the outside, and against me, he won't be able to do that. Sean's really good at low-risk, high-reward types of matches, which is a shame because I don't think that really speaks to people and the fans as much as big risks.
"I remember I was probably the biggest fan of O'Malley when he stepped up to fight (Petr) Yan, and then when he fought (Aljamain) Sterling. Even though the Sterling fight was a little bit – he had an entire year to get ready for Sterling, and Sterling was being active during that time. Even then, Sean was most inspiring and most impressive when he was stepping up to the plate, and it's just a lame way to go about doing things (now)."
After losing two straight title fights to Merab Dvalishvili, O'Malley rebounded with a close decision win over Song Yadong at UFC 324 in January.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cory Sandhagen irked by UFC"s recent matchmaking for Sean O'Malley
Continue reading...
