Cody Garbrandt still doesn’t have the best things to say about Sean O’Malley.
This past weekend, O’Malley fell short in his attempt to reclaim the bantamweight title, getting submitted by Merab Dvalishvili in their rematch at UFC 316. Ahead of the fight, O’Malley spoke openly about changes he’d made, including not smoking weed all year. But Garbrandt, who celebrated three years of sobriety last month, couldn’t help but take a dig at O’Malley at UFC Atlanta media day.
“He should’ve kept smoking because he looked like shit,” Garbrandt said. “Whatever he had to do, you know?
“Sometimes you lose and you try to reinvent yourself and find yourself. At the end of the day, you know who you are, you know what you’ve got to do. I know I’m one of the best fighters in the world. But when you lose you’ve got everyone in your ear saying you need to do this, do that. Just remember what got you there and who you are at the end of the day.”
A few years ago, when O’Malley was making his rise in the UFC, he and Garbrandt developed a rivalry online, with both men taking shots at one another through the media.
Many believed this would result in a fight, but it never came to pass, in part because O’Malley eventually became champion while Garbrandt fell down the rankings. Now that O’Malley is well outside title contention, that could be a marquee bout for the UFC, and it’s one Garbrandt is certainly interested in.
“That’s a fight that definitely — I think that’s a huge pay-per-view sale fight, Sean and I,” Garbrandt said. “I’m focused on the fight this Saturday and we’ll let everything else fall in line.”
Another major storyline for the bantamweight division coming out of UFC 316 is the divisional GOAT conversation. Many believe Dvalishvili has already staked his claim to the crown, despite only having two title defenses, but as a former bantamweight champion himself, Garbrandt does not agree.
“Personally, I like Merab. I think he’s a great human,” Garbrandt said. “His hard work, his fighting style, how he is as a person, really humble guy. Great fighter. He’ll turn it up. He’s doing well, he’s winning, he’s doing his thing in there. As far as best, greatest, you have to line them up.
“I think, truly, Dominick Cruz is the greatest bantamweight of all time. From WEC to here, Dominick Cruz has that. It’s hard to keep saying ‘The best, the best!’ How many best or greatests can you have in a weight class?
“And that just shows, too, with bantamweight how talented it is. ‘The greatest, the greatest, the greatest,’ how many people have we heard are the greatest? You had Henry Cejudo that was in there, a bantamweight/flyweight champion as well. Our weight division is stacked. There’s so many talented fighters in that division.”
Garbrandt faces Raoni Barcelos in a main card fight this Saturday at UFC Atlanta.
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