Sean O’Malley put the bantamweight division on notice with his knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling this past weekend, and ex-135-pound champion Cody Garbrandt is one of the many whose interest has been peaked.
O’Malley headlined UFC 292 opposite Sterling with the latter’s bantamweight title on the line. In the second round, O’Malley was able to put Sterling away with a vicious counter strike that put an end to “The Funkmaster’s” reign. Now, O’Malley sits atop the 135-pound throne, meaning he and Garbrandt could eventually find themselves standing across from one another inside the Octagon sooner than later.
Recently, Garbrandt was a guest on Michael Bisping’s podcast, “Believe You Me,” where he gave his thoughts on O’Malley’s performance in Boston. Garbrandt gave O’Malley props for his showing against Sterling, suggesting the Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series alumni’s movement made all the difference in the fight.
“I’m happy for ‘Sugar’ Sean to finally get out there and – he had a lot of hype, and he went out there and he rose to the occasion and put away Aljamain,” Garbrandt said (via MMA Junkie). “Looking at that fight, I think that Aljamain was just too adamant on getting it to the ground. He wasn’t very comfortable with the movement. I have the best footwork and movement in the whole bantamweight division, and I knew that was going to be a problem.
“‘Sugar’ Sean is a counter striker, and he (Sterling) lunged in, left himself open, and you can’t do that with a good counter striker. He knows what Aljamain’s game plan was: Get him to the ground and wrestle him. ‘Sugar’ Sean was like, ‘I’m literally going to fight tooth and nail to not get taken down.’ Aljamain made a constant mistake that made him lose the title.”
While Garbrandt offered O’Malley a raving review for his performance, he still warns that “Suga” has many holes and flaws in his game. However, he refused to harp on that too much, opting to rather allow O’Malley the chance to enjoy his time in the limelight for the time being.
“But like I said, I’m happy for ‘Sugar’ Sean,” Garbrandt said. “I think it’s great he’s a champion in our division, I think he has a lot of holes and weaknesses that are going to be exposed a lot. But right now, let him enjoy the championship and what he was able to do on Saturday night.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/cody-garbrandt-sean-omalley-has-a-lot-of-holes-and-weaknesses