Cody Garbrandt. Photo: FelipeOCouto. Used under Creative Commons
Cody Garbrandt believes new UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley will be “exposed a lot”
Former champ Cody Garbrandt believes that new UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley will be “exposed a lot” in the Octagon.
O’Malley stopped Aljamain Sterling in the second round of their recent UFC 292 title fight to capture the UFC bantamweight title. It was a massive win for O’Malley, who is now a UFC champion. But for a former champion, he believes the new champ is going to be exposed due to having perceived holes in his game.
Speaking to Michael Bisping’s “Believe You Me” podcast, Garbrandt said that while he is happy for O’Malley becoming a UFC champion, he has his doubts about how long he will hold his championship belt.
“I’m happy for ‘Sugar’ Sean. 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,” Garbrandt said (via MMAjunkie.com).
But while “No Love” isn’t a believer in O’Malley’s long-term standing as a UFC champion, he was still impressed by what he did to Sterling, and he praised him for his victory.
“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. 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,” Garbrandt said. “‘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.”
Do you agree with Cody Garbrandt that Sean O’Malley will be exposed in the UFC?
