O’Malley Mocks Garbrandt, Incites Twitter War

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Rising bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley and former division champion Cody Garbrandt have been creating quite the feud since their respective knockouts at UFC 250 this past June.

First, the two bantamweights argued over who had the better finish at UFC 250, as O’Malley flattened veteran Eddie Wineland with one punch (see it HERE) and Garbrandt slumped perennial contender Raphael Assuncao at the second-round buzzer. The knockouts were two of the best of 2020 thus far and ultimately helped each fighter stand out on a card that was headlined by a dominant Amanda Nunes title defense and Conor McGregor retirement announcement.

As one of the fastest-rising stars the UFC has to offer today O’Malley has been trying to jump the line at 135 pounds over the past two months in hopes of getting his hands on “No Love.” UFC president Dana White has already said “Suga” needs to win a few more fights before getting a crack at a former UFC champion as dangerous as Garbrandt, but fight fans were still holding out hope that the two violent bantamweights would soon clash.

That was until Garbrandt revealed earlier this week that he plans on moving down to 125 pounds to challenge current UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Such a move would take Garbrandt away from the bantamweight division and out of O’Malley’s reach.

“Suga” did not agree with Garbrandt’s recent decision and suggested he was running away in a recent Twitter post. Garbrandt was quick to respond and assured the young fighter that he’d be back to settle the score, as long as O’Malley keeps winning.

“Don’t worry kid I’ll be running both divisions by 2021 hopefully by that time you’ll fight someone in the top 15,” wrote Garbrandt.

O’Malley, who has become quite the trash talker over the past few months, wasted little time throwing more shade at Garbrandt, “Suga” suggests that Garbrandt could get finished by Figueiredo and make their eventual matchup at bantamweight less meaningful.

“I hope you don’t get knocked out at strawweight because it won’t look as good when I knock you out. Good luck,” said O’Malley.

Garbrandt then fired back by taking aim at the time O’Malley had to be carried out of the Octagon following a win.

“Hopefully you don’t have to get carried out of the cage like a bitch again… good luck,” wrote Garbrandt.

“Lolz my foot snapped champ,” O’Malley wrote back.

O’Malley may be undefeated and one of the most promising young names in the sport today but UFC should be wise and take their time with the booming star. Throwing him against a savage and extremely hungry ex-champion like Garbrandt probably isn’t the best move at this point in time, although it will make for a massive matchup sometime in 2021.

Until then, let’s see if “No Love” gets his chance against Figueiredo and if O’Malley has enough to get past proven veteran Marlon Vera at UFC 252 later this month.