UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier says Sean O’Malley‘s bantamweight title hopes are alive once again.

Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) dethroned Merab Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) to capture the 135-pound title at UFC 323, giving O’Malley new life. O’Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is coming off back-to-back title losses to Dvalishvili but will look to re-enter the title picture with a win over Song Yadong at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 (Paramount.+)

Cormier agrees that a trilogy between Yan and Dvalishvili should be next but isn’t sure if that will happen.

“Petr Yan doesn’t seem interested in it, though,” Cormier said on his “Good Guy/Bad Guy” show with Chael Sonnen. “He said Merab and Umar could fight each other, and then they could see who gets a title fight. But I am telling you, your boy Sean O’Malley, he beats Song Yadong, there will be a little bit of a draw from the company business-wise to go, ‘Maybe, maybe.’

“Because Merab should be fighting for the belt, no question. His chasing history is why he’s not the champion today. Merab could have literally stayed after that fight with (Cory) Sandhagen and said, ‘I’ll see you guys in February, March,’ and nobody would have complained.”

O’Malley has history with Yan. He beat Yan in a controversial decision at UFC 280, which resulted in a title shot. Cormier sees the UFC pushing for an O’Malley vs. Yan rematch if he can get past Song (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC).

“There will be a draw if Sean O’Malley can get through Song Yadong,” Cormier said. “Because at bantamweight, Sean O’Malley is the biggest star in the weight class, and there will be a draw to say, ‘Hey, why don’t we put O’Malley in there to fight Petr Yan because he’s not going to get wrestled the whole time?’ But that would feel unfair.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst: Sean O’Malley has ‘unfair’ inside track to title shot