Cody Garbrandt isn’t too offered on UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley simply but.
O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defeated ex-champ Petr Yan to change into No. 1 contender, knocked out Aljamain Sterling to change into champion, and battered Marlon Vera in his first title protection.
Nonetheless, Garbrandt (14-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) thinks there are a couple of asterisks that include these wins.
“He didn’t beat Yan, so let’s be sincere,” Garbrandt informed MMA Junkie. “He was provided that. The Aljo combat, I believe Aljo simply pushed, raced quick again to bantamweight. These weight cuts took a toll on him. As a champion, they wish to hold you busy. … (Sterling) got here proper in, proper in entrance of him, sharp-shot him, caught him.
“So good on ‘Sugar’ Sean to be the champion, to beat Aljamain. Aljamain had an ideal run. The ‘Chito’ (Vera) combat was so-so for me. His first title protection, he went 5 rounds towards a man who gave him his first loss, however again story is ‘Chito’ didn’t have the most effective camp, was injured getting in. Who is aware of?”
O’Malley is focusing on Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) for his subsequent title protection. Garbrandt sees Dvalishvili as a take a look at to show if O’Malley is basically that good.
“I believe this Merab combat goes to be fairly attention-grabbing to see how legit ‘Sugar’ Sean is,” Garbrandt mentioned. “Can he stuff takedowns? Can he go the space in a higher-paced combat. ‘Chito’ didn’t attempt to take one takedown. That is combined martial arts.”
Garbrandt meets Deiveson Figueiredo (22-3-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 300 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) opener at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas.
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