Sean
O’Malley and Cody
Garbrandt once appeared to be on a collision course in the
Octagon. While they may yet meet, their fighting careers are
currently headed in two very different directions.
O’Malley won for the seventh time in eight promotional appearances,
scoring a first-round stoppage of Raulian
Paiva in a bantamweight clash at UFC 269 on Saturday night. One
bout later, Garbrandt was finished inside of a round by Kai Kara
France in his flyweight debut — his fourth defeat in his last
five outings.
O’Malley has been handled carefully thus far by UFC matchmakers,
but White says the Contender Series alum has earned a step up in
competition with his latest performance.
“The guy he beat tonight is a real guy, a very real guy,” White
said at the UFC 269 post-fight press conference. “And he did it
tonight in spectcualr fashion. When you talk to him, two things: He
wants to get paid and he wants to fight higher level
competition.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to pay him and get him some
fights.”
Garbrandt, however, struggled since a meteoric rise to the top of
the bantamweight division. The loss to Kara France was a missed
opportunity, because “No Love” is still a popular figure within the
promotion and could have received a quick push to the top of the
125-pound weight class with a victory.
White admitted he isn’t sure what direction to take with the former
champion.
“I don’t know,” White said. “You move down a weight class and you
get knocked out down a weight class. He’s been clipped a few times
now.”