Ahead of UFC 252, Sean O'Malley claims Cody Gardbrandt doesn't really want to fight him

Former UFC bantamweight champion "No Love" Cody Gardbrandt and rising contender "Sugar" Sean O'Malley have been trading insults and going back and forth on social media for quite a while now.

Talks of a fight between those two were quickly shut down by Dana White though, as the UFC president pointed out Gardbarndt's vast experience over O'Malley. But that hasn't stopped the two from trading blows at social media.

But according to O'Malley, "No Love" doesn't really want to fight him no matter how hard the former champion tries to tell himself and the media.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting O'Malley said, "I don’t think he wants to fight me, I might be a little biased … I don’t think Cody wants to fight me. I think he sees that fight, I’m long, I’m tall, I’m accurate, I throw straight punches, he throws hooks. He’s 5’3.” I’m 6’4.” He don’t want that fight.” when asked about Gardbrandt.

“I think I’ve been in his head. I think he probably watched my fight with Jose Quinonez because we didn’t have any beef back then but I bet he was thinking ‘I’m going to avoid that fight’ back then.” added the rising star.

Both men competed on the same card at UFC 250 back in June with both providing spectacular knockout victories.

Gardbrandt finished Raphael Assuncao with a spectacular and devastating strike. Meanwhile, Sean O'Malley provided one of the best walk-off knockouts against veteran and former WEC champion Eddie Wineland. Both men earned the "Performance of the night award". And ever since they have been trying to convince each other that their respective knockout was better than the other's.

Check out O'Malley's stunning victory over Wineland at UFC 250.

Despite their back-and-forth, Sean says he respects Cody for being able to bounce back after three straight knockout losses.

“Then I knock out Eddie [Wineland] and he knocks out [Raphael] Assuncao but as I said, I think I said it on a podcast the other day, I respect Cody a lot. He got knocked out not once, not twice, he got knocked out three times in a row and then he comes back and fights a tough guy like Assuncao and he got the job done.”

“There’s respect there 100 percent but I just think my skillset versus his skillset, I beat him. That’s what it comes down to and obviously not afraid to express how I feel about that fight. He’s just getting hot-headed, and obviously, if someone talks crap, he’s going to talk crap back. It just worked out good.”

O'Malley(12-0 in MMA, 4-0 in the UFC) is scheduled to take on Marlon "Chito" Vera at UFC 252 this weekend. He has referred the fight against Marlon Vera as his toughest test to date. A win against veteran Vera, at the co-main event of UFC 252, will rise O'Malley's stardom even further no doubt.

As for Gardbrandt, bigger things are waiting for him at the moment. As he is waiting to take on newly crowned flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in the main event of UFC 255 on November 21st,2020. The venue and location of the PPV are yet to be announced.