Cody Garbrandt says Sean O'Malley battle in the works – outside UFC

LAS VEGAS – Cody Garbrandt and Sean O'Malley may finally get their hands on one another, without punches being thrown.

At a UFC 326 pre-fight news conference Wednesday, Garbrandt (14-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) revealed discussions are underway for the longtime rivals to finally compete against one another, just not in MMA.

"(RAF) reached out a few times," Garbrandt told MMA Junkie and other reporters. "They were trying to set up a match against Sean O'Malley next month. So have his team reach out. We're ready to go. We could unscathed on the fight this Saturday, and we go to Philadelphia and strap on the singlets and go to work."

RAF 8 takes place April 18 at Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia. The only match currently announced is the headliner: a battle between former UFC bantamweight champions Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo. Should Garbrandt and O'Malley join, the lineup would then feature four former titleholders.

"RAF's done an amazing job," Garbrandt said. "The audience of their shows, the talent that they're bringing in, to really catapult wrestling in a great way. Their shows are awesome, if you haven't tuned in or watched. I think you guys all saw Arman (Tsarukyan) last weekend went viral. It's great. For us to stay in activity, a lot of times we can have months, years, in between fights.

"So for us to still go out there and compete in martial arts in wrestling and go out there and make some money – they're paying the wrestlers really good, as well. They're holding great shows, and I'm excited to be a part of it."

The rivalry between Garbrandt and O'Malley stems from a heated December 2021 pre-fight news conference for UFC 269. While they weren't scheduled against one another, they nearly came to blows and needed to be separated.

"I've tried to get that fight for a while," Garbrandt said. "Hopefully, he'll wrestle me because he's negated a fight for quite some time. We've been trying to get that matched up. So yeah, wrestling will be fun."

Before those singlets are broken out, however, Garbrandt will compete Saturday at UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena in a bantamweight prelim vs. rising Chinese fighter Long Xiao (27-10 MMA, 1-2 UFC).

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cody Gabrandt reveals Sean O'Malley battle in the works – outside UFC