Cory Sandhagen believes he should get a title shot before Sean O’Malley.

Sandhagen is set to headline a Fight Night card on February 18 against Marlon Vera in a big fight for the bantamweight division. However, the top of the division is a murky one with Alajmain Sterling and Henry Cejudo linked to a fight and O’Malley likely getting the winner.

Yet, according to Sandhagen, he believes if he defeats Vera in February, he should be ahead of O’Malley for the next title shot.

“Yeah, I definitely think so. Last time I checked, O’Malley doesn’t have a contract yet. I think I go out and I do really well against ‘Chito’, I could see me and Sean fighting right afterward, depending on what happens between Sterling and Cejudo,” Sandhagen said to Middle Easy. “But, that’s the fight that I’ll be asking for. Sean fought a bunch of, not the highest-quality of opponents and then barely beat a guy (Petr Yan) in a three-round fight. I don’t think really that should get you a title shot, in my opinion. I’ve been in the top five for the last three years.

‘I’ll just get people believing in me again’

“I’ve gotten one title shot and it was a short-notice one. I think that I’m more deserving than he is of the title shot, I know that he has a bunch of hype, I know that I wasn’t super active this last year,” Sandhagen added. “But I’m gonna have a really active year this year and I think I’ll just get people believing in me again because I did take some time off last year, I’m gonna have a busy year this year and I’m gonna do it this year.”

If Cory Sandhagen does beat Marlon Vera, perhaps he does get matched up with Sean O’Malley in a number-one contender bout. Regardless, Sandhagen is confident he will fight for UFC gold this year.

Do you agree with Cory Sandhagen that he is more deserving of a title shot than Sean O’Malley?