Sean O’Malley opens up on ’embarassing’ realization after watching Cody Garbrandt fight

By Cole Shelton - June 17, 2025

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley had an embarrassing realization after watching Cody Garbrandt fight last Saturday.

Sean O'Malley, UFC, MMA, Nate Diaz, jorge Masvidal

O’Malley saw Garbrandt lose to Raoni Barcelos at UFC Atlanta, which was his second-straight loss. In the fight, Garbrandt was sporting a new look with some face tattoos and braided hair, which gave O’Malley an embarrassing realization.

“I saw Cody Garbrandt saying I looked like sh*t against Merab. That dude looked sharp in his fight. That’s all I’ll say. You know what was annoying? When I saw his hair was braided, and he’s got those face tattoos, I was like, ‘F*ck, that’s how people see me.’ It was just so embarrassing,” O’Malley said to Ariel Helwani. “Oh God, I need to f*****g get a new look. That was embarrassing. I was like, ‘Holy shut.’ That was an eye-opener. I was like, ‘God damnit it, that’s how people probably look at me.’ It was embarrassing.”

Of course, Sean O’Malley and Cody Garbrandt have taken shots at one another in the past. It’s a fight that has been out there, but after Garbrandt lost to an unranked Barcelos, it doesn’t seem like it will happen anytime soon, even though ‘Suga’ has lost back-to-back fights.

Sean O’Malley knows who he wants to fight next

Sean O’Malley is coming off a submission loss to Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title.

It was his second-straight loss, and now ‘Suga’ will likely have to win multiple fights to get another title shot. Although O’Malley says he knows who he wants to fight next, he isn’t saying it, as he says he isn’t thinking about fighting for a bit.

“Yes,” he said when asked if he knows who he wants to fight next. “I mean, we’ll see. We’ll see how I feel this week. Just depends on how I feel. The date depends on how I feel. There’s a lot to unravel. As of right now, I’m chilling, recovering, hanging out.”

O’Malley is 18-3 and one NC as a pro and coming off back-to-back losses to Dvalishvili.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Cody Garbrandt Sean O'Malley UFC