“You Got to Give This Kid a Few More Fights” – Dana White Not Keen on Sean O’Malley vs Cody Garbrandt

Published 06/17/2020, 3:56 PM EDT

Follow Us

Sean O’Malley has turned out to be the hottest young prospect in mixed martial arts following his win at UFC 250. Also getting back in the win column at the same event was former Bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt. Having entered the UFC rankings, Sean O’Malley has been rallying for a fight with Garbrandt. However, Dana White is not very impressed with the pairing.

America’s Favorite Video Today

Both O’Malley and Garbrandt won their respective fights via impressive knockouts. The former knocked out Eddie Wineland with a one-punch walk-off KO in the first round. On the other hand, Cody knocked out Raphael Assuncao with a clean punch with only one second left on the clock at the end of the second round. The two later went at each other regarding whose knockout was better.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The banter between the two continued online and in interviews. Therefore, there were speculations about the two fighters meeting each other in the Octagon in the future. When Dana was asked if he’d be interested in booking a fight between the two, he gave a negative response.

“The problem is, you take a Sean O’ Malley…first of all he has been off for a couple of years, young kid, just coming in, like where does he go from here?”, Dana said while talking on The Schmozone podcast. “You got to give this kid a few more fights before he gets to Cody Garbrandt,” White said. “If he fought and beat Cody Garbrandt, then he’d break into the top five, and very few people in their careers break into the top five.”

Dana White hints at a comparison between Sean O’Malley and Conor McGregor

Sean O’Malley is slowly turning into the next big thing for the UFC. His back to back victories after serving a ban from the USADA has brought his name to the forefront of MMA news. The USADA suspended O’Malley after he tested positive for Ostarine. However, since his return, his rise has been phenomenal and been compared to that of Israel Adesanya and Conor McGregor.

Regardless, Dana White has kept an eye out for O’Malley ever since he appeared on the Contender Series.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest UFC stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“He is one of the kids we are focused on and have been since the Contender Series,” said White. “He had some issues he had to deal with the last couple of years, which is brutal. But it’s given him a chance to heal up and here we are.”

Merab Dvalishvili, who won last weekend, called out and said he wanted a fight against O’Malley. With the hype around him, everyone wants a piece of O’Malley. When this was brought up Dana couldn’t help but draw a comparison with the sport’s biggest star.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“Who does that remind you of?” Dana asked. While he didn’t mention Conor explicitly, there was a high possibility that the UFC President was referring to the Irish megastar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by:

Rishabh Singh

655Articles

One take at a time

Rishabh Singh is an MMA author at EssentiallySports since 2020. An engineer in the making, his love for combat sports began by watching Anderson Silva light people up inside the Octagon. When he isn't busy in his technical pursuits, he is an avid reader with a love for sports in general and sporting history in particular.
Show More>

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

EDITORS' PICK

America’s Favorite Video Today