Cody Garbrandt fires back at ‘infatuated’ Sean O’Malley after UFC 292 comments: ‘Aljo mops the canvas with you’

Sean O’Malley may be on the cusp of his first-ever UFC title shot against reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling tomorrow night (Sat., Aug. 19, 2023) at UFC 292 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside TD Garden in Boston, Mass., but that hasn’t stopped “Suga” from mixing it up with another rival, Cody Garbrandt, during fight week.

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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Earlier this week, it was revealed that an injury to Garbrandt would prevent “No Love” from competing in his scheduled bout against Mario Bautista this weekend at UFC 292. The former UFC bantamweight champion was coming off a win in his last outing and was hoping to capture a key victory over Bautista on one of the biggest PPV cards of the year.

As expected, O’Malley had some choice words about Garbrandt’s removal from the event. The two share a turbulent past and are unlikely to break bread anytime soon. So when Garbrandt was forced off the same card that O’Malley was competing on it left “Suga” with the opportunity to throw shade in the direction of “No Love.”

“Some people aren’t built for this,” O’Malley said on his TimboSugarShow podcast. “Remember when he said that against me? I was just like, ’That was mean, man. That was mean.’ You get injured, injuries happen. I got injured during a fight then he said some people aren’t built for this. He got injured before the fight. Which, you know what, hopefully, it’s nothing serious because that sucks. Mario would have put him on his butt. It would have been fun. Press conference would have been fun.

“I did KO him at the [first] presser,” he concluded. “Maybe he’s like, ‘I just can’t make it.’ It probably worked out best for Cody.”

After learning about O’Malley’s comments it didn’t take long for Garbrandt to respond. It’s a shame that a lingering back injury will prevent “No Love” from fighting at UFC 292, but he seems ready to challenge O’Malley after this weekend.

“He has a weird infatuation with me,” wrote Garbrandt via Twitter. “You can get it once Aljo mops the canvas with you @SugaSeanMMA.”

Thoughts? Are we ever going to see O’Malley vs. Garbrandt or is this it?

Sound off!

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To check out the latest and greatest UFC 292: “Sterling vs. O’Malley” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 292 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.