Cory Sandhagen is both bored and fired up at the same time.
Days after his UFC division’s champion, Merab Dvalishvili, defeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) issued a callout Thursday that shows where he sees himself in the bantamweight picture.
“Let’s be real,” Sandhagen said in an Instagram post. “(Sean) O’Malley has no business fighting Merab for an immediate rematch. He got beat up in the first fight. He’s going to get beat up in the second fight. No one wants to see that fight. I’m not booked yet. I want a fight. I am so damn bored. I’ll even give this fool as much time as he wants, the way Aljamain gave him as much time as he wants. Just, UFC, make the fight the fans want to see: me and O’Malley. Make it happen soon. I’m so f*cking bored.”
With no clear frontrunner for the next UFC bantamweight title shot, a rematch between Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) and O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) could be in the cards. O’Malley has not competed since Dvalishvili dethroned him in September.
Coming off an August loss to Nurmagomedov, Sandhagen is one of the few at the top of the division that Dvalishvili has not already fought. Only three top-10 contenders, Song Yadong, Henry Cejudo, and Rob Font are currently booked.
