After falling short at UFC 320, what’s next for Cory Sandhagen?

In the co-main event of UFC 320 this past Saturday night, the bantamweight title was on the line. Merab Dvalishvili (21-4) was defending his title against “The Sandman” Cory Sandhagen (18-6).

For Sandhagen, this was the opportunity he’s been waiting for. Sandhagen has long been considered one of the best bantamweights in the world, but this was his first opportunity at undisputed gold. He got one interim title shot against Petr Yan, but he fell short in that fight.

Back in May, he finished former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and on the heels of going 4-1 in five fights, he got his shot at Merab Dvalishvili. In the first round, Sandhagen was very impressive keeping the fight on the feet and really controlling the striking from range.

He started the second round up 10-9 on all the scorecards. However, round two was so bad for him that he really never recovered. Dvalishvili dominated the round and rocked Sandhagen badly on the feet. Dvalishvili nearly finished the fight and scored a 10-8 round on two of the judges scorecards.

While Sandhagen had moments, especially in the fourth round, he never was able to recover from the hole that he found himself in after that second round. Dvalishvili was suffocating with his pressure and despite Sandhagen’s ability to get up from takedowns, he couldn’t shake the champion. After all five rounds, it was a clear decision for Dvalishvili at UFC 320.

What’s next after UFC 320?

Cory Sandhagen, even in defeat, showed how good he is on Saturday night. If Merab Dvalishvili is not the bantamweight champion, Sandhagen might be the guy leading the way at 135. However, Sandhagen just happens to fight in a time where the division is led by an actual machine in Merab Dvalishvili.

Sandhagen is one of the best in the world, but this loss does drop him to 6-5 in his last 11 fights. Granted, outside of losing to top contender Umar Nurmagomedov (no shame in that), every loss has been to a world champion. He’s clearly one of the best in the world, but it just seems like he stumbles against the very best the UFC has to offer.

If you ask me, I think Sandhagen’s next fight is a simple one. He needs to fight someone he’s been circling around for years and that’s Sean O’Malley. The former bantamweight champion is coming off two straight losses to Dvalishvili. The fight makes all the sense in the world and it’s a fight that fans have wanted for a very long time.