{"id":47818,"date":"2025-05-05T01:36:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T00:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=47818"},"modified":"2025-05-05T01:36:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T00:36:35","slug":"is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cory Sandhagen is making a strong case for the next bantamweight title shot as the division awaits the outcome of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O&rsquo;Malley 2 at UFC 316 on June 7, 2025. With top contenders competing for position, Sandhagen believes that his recent win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night on May 3, 2025, puts him ahead of former champion Petr Yan, the only other top-5 bantamweight coming off a victory.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OUCH!!! Cory Sandhagen popped Deiveson Figueiredo KNEE &ndash; TKO &#128064;&#128556;&#8252;&#65039;&#128483;&#65039; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFCDesMoines?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#UFCDesMoines<\/a> <br><br>Who should Cory fight next??? &#129300; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X9sTzOXLoZ\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/X9sTzOXLoZ<\/a><\/p>&mdash; MMA Homie Podcast (@theMMAhomies) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/theMMAhomies\/status\/1918894582592405813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>May 4, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/cory-sandhagen-puts-on-mma-masterclass-on-deiveson-figueiredo-next-in-line-for-a-title-shot\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Cory Sandhagen Puts On MMA Masterclass on Deiveson Figueiredo, Next in Line for a Title Shot!!<\/a><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sandhagen&rsquo;s case and past clash with yan<\/h2><p>Sandhagen stopped Figueiredo in under two rounds, while Yan, whose ahead of him in rankings, scored decision wins over Song Yadong and Figueiredo in 2024. &ldquo;I finished Figgy in a round and a half. Yan didn&rsquo;t finish Figgy. Yan got dropped by Figgy.&rdquo; Sandhagen said at the press conference. He argued that his dominant win proves he&rsquo;s better, and he dismissed Yan&rsquo;s claim since Yan lost to Dvalishvili and O&rsquo;Malley. Sandhagen added, &ldquo;I showed that I&rsquo;m the best guy, and deserve to be next.&rdquo; <\/p><p>The two fighters met at UFC 267 in 2021 for the interim bantamweight title. Sandhagen took the fight on a short notice, while replacing Aljamain Sterling. Sandhagen started strong but Yan dropped Sandhagen once. Yan rallied back into the fan and won most of the rounds, and won the fight via unanimous decision. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cory Sandhagen says he&rsquo;ll call Dana &amp; Hunter to lock in title shot after #UFCDesMoines win\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pWWo_ut3ZTA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>With four wins in his last five fights, Sandhagen has yet to compete for the undisputed title despite nine straight five round bouts. As the bantamweight division&rsquo;s top fighters await UFC 316&rsquo;s outcome, Sandhagen&rsquo;s recent dominance and bold claims makes him a leading candidate for the next title shot. <\/p><p>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/benoit-saint-denis-faces-uncertainty-after-ufc-315-fight-cancellation\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Benoit Saint-Denis Faces Uncertainty After UFC 315 Fight Cancellation<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cory Sandhagen is making a strong case for the next bantamweight title shot as the division awaits the outcome of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O&rsquo;Malley 2 at UFC 316 on June 7, 2025. With top contenders competing for position, Sandhagen believes that his recent win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night on May 3, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":47822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1783],"tags":[2352,1864,3846,1983],"class_list":["post-47818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma","tag-cory-sandhagen","tag-merab-dvalishvili","tag-sean-omalley","tag-ufc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O&rsquo;Malley? - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O&rsquo;Malley? - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T01:36:35+01:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Divakaran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/x.com\/EricHar44584857\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Divakaran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eric Divakaran\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/98ac2e1774499fd4d7a7e37d04514940\"},\"headline\":\"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T00:36:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-05T00:36:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\"},\"wordCount\":328,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cory Sandhagen\",\"Merab Dvalishvili\",\"Sean O\\\\'Malley\",\"UFC\"],\"articleSection\":[\"MMA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\",\"name\":\"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley? - The Playoffs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T00:36:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-05T00:36:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Credits: Lily Smith\/The Register \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"description\":\"Share passion for sports &amp; betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"width\":415,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"The Playoffs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/98ac2e1774499fd4d7a7e37d04514940\",\"name\":\"Eric Divakaran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03dc79e73261aa5431bf3c6402ac8014?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03dc79e73261aa5431bf3c6402ac8014?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eric Divakaran\"},\"description\":\"I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I\\\\'m built like a Running Back. But now that I can\\\\'t, since I\\\\'m technically in the \\\\\\\"Unc\\\\\\\" age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it\\\\'s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.\u00a0\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ericaintthatcooked\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/x.com\/EricHar44584857\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/eric-divakaran\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O&rsquo;Malley? - The Playoffs","description":"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O&rsquo;Malley? - The Playoffs","og_description":"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.","og_url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/","og_site_name":"The Playoffs","article_modified_time":"2025-05-05T00:36:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eric Divakaran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/x.com\/EricHar44584857","twitter_site":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eric Divakaran","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/"},"author":{"name":"Eric Divakaran","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/98ac2e1774499fd4d7a7e37d04514940"},"headline":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley?","datePublished":"2025-05-05T00:36:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-05T00:36:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/"},"wordCount":328,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Cory Sandhagen","Merab Dvalishvili","Sean O\\'Malley","UFC"],"articleSection":["MMA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/","name":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley? - The Playoffs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-05T00:36:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-05T00:36:35+00:00","description":"Cory Sandhagen insists he deserves the next bantamweight title shot over Petr Yan after dominating Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26089154_168416100_lowres-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Credits: Lily Smith\/The Register \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/is-cory-sandhagen-next-in-line-for-the-bantamweight-title-to-face-the-winner-of-merab-dvalishvili-vs-sean-omalley\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Cory Sandhagen Next in Line for the Bantamweight Title To Face the Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O\u2019Malley?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","name":"The Playoffs","description":"Share passion for sports &amp; betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization","name":"The Playoffs","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","width":415,"height":280,"caption":"The Playoffs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/98ac2e1774499fd4d7a7e37d04514940","name":"Eric Divakaran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03dc79e73261aa5431bf3c6402ac8014?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03dc79e73261aa5431bf3c6402ac8014?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eric Divakaran"},"description":"I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I\\'m built like a Running Back. But now that I can\\'t, since I\\'m technically in the \\\"Unc\\\" age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it\\'s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.\u00a0","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ericaintthatcooked\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/x.com\/EricHar44584857"],"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/eric-divakaran\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47818"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47824,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47818\/revisions\/47824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}