Former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier has some matchups in mind for the bantamweight division in 2025, including the next outings for Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan.
The 135-pound weight class is entering the new year with a fresh champion at the helm and a number of hungry contenders chasing him down.
Merab Dvalishvili achieved his title ambitions on MMA’s biggest stage by dethroning O’Malley inside the Sphere this past September. While “Suga” eyes a shot at redemption in his return from injury next March or April, Umar Nurmagomedov sits as the consensus number one contender.
In spite of the Georgian’s ongoing attempts to push that matchup away, the Dagestani has plenty of support when it comes to his claim to an opportunity, including from Cormier.
During a recent episode of his Good Guy/Bad Guy show alongside Chael Sonnen on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Cormier pointed to Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov as the logical next title fight in the bantamweight division.
And in terms of how the rest of the top names should be matched up, “DC” has some ideas for that too.
“There is a bunch of guys at 135 that need to be matched up. So I figured, it’s time for some matchmaking,” Cormier began. “For the title…easy, Merab vs. Umar. … Then I go Yan vs. Sandhagen (2) as my second fight, Chael. Because then it gives you a clear number one contender.
“Sean O’Malley needs a big fight, right? You know who else needs a big fight? Henry Cejudo. These guys have a beef, an easy beef to sell…I say put Sean O’Malley in there with the former champion Henry Cejudo. That means more than a win over Cory Sandhagen,” Cormier continued. “After that, I’m going Figgy (Deiveson Figueiredo) vs. Dominick Cruz. And my last one, Chael, we’ve got to give Mario Bautista a chance. … I’m giving him (Marlon) ‘Chito’ Vera.”
It remains to be seen whether or not the UFC higher-ups will share Cormier’s view of the division. For now, it doesn’t appear the champ himself does.
Having previously pointed to others as more worthy of challenging for his gold than Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili most recently called for a rematch with Yan following “No Mercy’s” decision win over Figueiredo in Macau last weekend.
