The UFC White House card has finally been announced! While the UFC’s historic card was supposed to feature highly anticipated bouts, the booking of Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi is raising more eyebrows than praise. As such, O’Malley, who is eyeing another title shot, will surprisingly fight No. 6-ranked bantamweight on the historic event, and a former UFC champion is quite shocked to see that matchup.

“There’s a couple of fights that I was kind of scratching my head on that was puzzled,” said Kamaru Usman on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. “O’Malley vs Zahabi. I like this fight. The problem is, I just felt that what happened to Corey Sandhagen? I feel like that’s the that was the fight. Am I wrong here, or do we miss something?

Because from what I know, Sandhagen’s not hurt. Sandhagen, I believe, is making videos every day for O’Malley. They’re both closely ranked. Why is this fight not happening? That’s what is puzzling to me right here. And listen, Zahabi is, and like I’ve said this, he is a dark horse in this division… But I thought the fight, and I thought a missed opportunity here was Cory Sandhagen versus Sean O’Malley.”

Surely, a fight between ‘Suga’ and Cory Sandhagen sounds interesting, given that both of them are currently placed in the top five UFC bantamweight rankings. Not only that, Sandhagen’s last fight in the promotion was against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320, where he lost. And in his return, the 33-year-old wanted a bout against O’Malley.

To that end, ‘The Sandman’ also accused the former bantamweight champion of avoiding their fight. But as of now, O’Malley has yet to respond to those accusations. As such, ‘Suga’ seemed more interested in a championship bout.

Right after his victory over Song Yadong at UFC 324, O’Malley called out the bantamweight kingpin, Petr Yan, for a fight. Now, despite that ambition, the Montana-native agreed to fight a lower-ranked opponent like Aiemann Zahabi. And that would surely leave one to speculate on the reason behind that decision.

Was it just to feature on the UFC White House card? Maybe, maybe not. But if O’Malley had been booked against Sandhagen, surely there wouldn’t have been any questions raised, considering both fighters’ stature and rank in the division.

Now, while Usman believes the promotion missed an opportunity to book O’Malley against Sandhagen, another UFC champion highlights the possible reason behind that call.

Henry Cejudo theorizes why UFC booked ‘Suga’ vs. Zahabi

Sean O’Malley entered the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series, and right from the start, he was polished to be the next big star of the promotion. Up until he faced Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, O’Malley arguably held a reputation.

But after consecutive losses against Dvalishvili, ‘Suga’s marketability took a hit. And according to former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo, that decline in O’Malley’s career trajectory is one of the reasons behind his upcoming fight against Aiemann Zahabi.

“I can see why they’re going that route,” said Cejudo on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. “Which is, they want to be able to uplift the dude that’s pampered, you know, Sean O’Malley. I think they want him to get a victory, but I don’t see this fight like that, bro. After watching, Aiemann Zahabi has gotten better, and he’s a competitor, bro.

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You watch you be watching the beginnings of the rounds, and you watch him towards the end, he’ll he knows how to pace himself and actually how to win the round at the very end like a real competitor that knows how to freaking study fights. So, I feel like, yeah, of course. I mean, we’re all going to be thinking what we’re thinking. But I have Zahabi, aka Ariel Helwani, uh, you know, beating Sean O’Malley.”

‘Triple C’ seemed very sure of Zahabi’s skill set as a fighter to beat O’Malley. Maybe there’s a possibility of that, considering the Canadian fighter’s recent run of form in the UFC. As such, Zahabi is riding on a seven-fight winning streak, with victories over veterans like Pedro Munhoz, Jose Aldo, and Marlon Vera.

But of course, O’Malley’s ability to outclass his opponents in the striking department cannot be overlooked. Overall, despite the missed opportunity for a fight between ‘Suga’ and Cory Sandhagen, Zahabi still stands as an exciting matchup for the former UFC bantamweight champion.

On that note, who do you think wins between O’Malley and Zahabi on June 14? Let us know in the comments below!