(Exclusive): "He's not that durable"- Cory Sandhagen previews Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon Vera, unveils key matchup dynamics
UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley is set to defend his title for the first time in a rematch against Marlon Vera.
The fellow contender, Cory Sandhagen, weighed in on the fight in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch.
O'Malley will take on Vera in the main event of UFC 299 set to take place in March next year. Sandhagen told Lynch that 'Chito' is a greater challenge than he is being given credit for.
“Honestly I think it’s a lot tougher match for Sean than what people probably think. I think that what Sean does really well won’t work as good against Chito. Sean keeps distance real well and then he snipes people when they make mistakes.
"Chito is very good at not getting hit clean, like very good at wearing a punch and I think that that’s going to pose a lot of problems for Sean. I also think that Chito is not going to chase the guy down which could work in his favor [or] not work in his favor because he didn’t chase me down at all and it ended up him losing a pretty significant fight.”
Cory Sandhagen also highlighted Sean O'Malley's lack of durability as an issue going up against the resilience of Marlon Vera.
“I think it’s going to be a lot tougher and a lot closer of a fight than I think what most people are probably expecting," Sandhagen said. "I don’t think O’Malley is a super durable guy like he breaks his hands in fights, he’s broken his legs in fights I think. From what I hear, he’s kind of injured a lot of the time so I don’t really know."
Sandhagen added:
"I know that if you’re gonna fight someone as dense as Chito, who is a very durable guy, who does hit very very hard it’s not gonna be an easy task to take that guy out or win in any fashion if you’re just not that durable of a guy.”
Cory Sandhagen discusses potential matchup against Umar Nurmagomedov
Cory Sandhagen was slated to take on Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC Nashville in August this year, but his opponent pulled out due to injury.
Sandhagen does not believe Nurmagomedov deserves to be booked against him again considering his lower ranking in the division. In the exclusive interview, he said:
"I took the fight because I wanted a number one contender fight. If we were on the same plane then, and then I just racked a win against another really tough guy, with a first-round injury and still dominated. I don’t see us being on the same plane anymore. I think that he needs one or two more wins, I think him getting hurt was a bummer for him as I don’t really know how many other guys are going to step up."
Check out Cory Sandhagen's full comments below [10:07 & 16:56]: