Aljamain Sterling makes the fourth defence of his UFC bantamweight title overnight, and has said plenty in the build-up about how Sean O’Malley – a growing star within the promotion – has purposely been matched up in a way allowing him to fast-track his way to a championship shot. So now, only he stands between Suga Show becoming the second DWCS alum to seize gold…
Sterling: I respect his skillset, but not the path
UFC 292 tonight, live from Boston’s TD Garden
Headlined by Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley for bantamweight title
Main card kicks off at 3am BST, Sunday — main event walks not before 5am
Live on ESPN and ESPN+ in US, TNT Sports in UK
“Chito [Marlon Vera] sent him to the shadow realm, he poked [Pedro] Munhoz after losing R1, that’s our potential champion everyone’s excited to have? I don’t get it but if he goes out there and wins, almost eradicates that [asterisk] for him. If you cut the line and have one good night, his life changes drastically.
As for us, we have to have multiple good nights in a row – contender after contender – then have a really good night in your title shot, that’s a lot harder to do rather than scraping past guys who aren’t in the company anymore.
Records are records, feels like he had a bye to the semis and is now in the final. It’s up to me, show him he got here by accident – doesn’t deserve to be here.”
Those are some bullish words from defending champion Sterling, transcribed after an interview with Bleacher Report’s Haris Kruskic this week, and there’s a lot of truth attached as he prepares for his final bantamweight bout.
Relishing his villain role against a fan favourite in O’Malley, the titlist – who turned 34 last month – knows time doesn’t wait for anyone, so he can’t afford to waste his prime years wondering what might’ve been as many declare him the division’s greatest of all-time. There is always more to achieve, milestones to complete.
Taking a leaf out of the Alexander Volkanovski playbook, the reigning featherweight champion who moved up and gave Islam Makhachev all he could handle in February, Sterling wants to add to an ever-growing resume – albeit one that has soured fan relations in recent years post-lockdown, through no fault of his own.
O’Malley’s split decision win over former champion Petr Yan last October was surprising, largely as most critics didn’t foresee him being able to withstand Yan’s volume and world-class abilities, the longer it unfolded over 15 minutes.
That was a fair assessment to hold: he hadn’t displayed that capability against such an opponent, after all. Yet he rose his level across all areas when it mattered – divisive scorecards aside – and snatched Yan’s shine as a new title contender.
Former two-weight world champion Henry Cejudo’s return from retirement was exciting and intriguing in equal measure, as he attempted but fell short in an attempt to dethrone Sterling, and now the flamboyant striker O’Malley gets a crack.
His first main event and subsequently, a fight over 25 minutes rather than the normal 15… he’ll be wise to pace himself, unless Sterling shows him an opening in their stand-up exchanges to capitalise early on, possible yet unlikely.
The calculated prediction is that Sterling, unlike a declining Yan, will show O’Malley that while he might be an elite fighter and still become champion one day down the road, there are levels at the very top – drowning him in deep waters on the ground.
During Thursday’s press conference, O’Malley’s Sportscenter top-10 moments KO prediction sounded idealistic at the time but many have suggested that’s the only way he can prevail, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Considering Sterling has openly (and repeatedly) laid out a pathway for his friend and surging contender Merab Dvalishvili to seize gold himself once he moves up to featherweight for good, the responsibility on his shoulders is even more heightened.
UFC 292 card in full, is as follows
Main card
Bantamweight championship: Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Sean O’Malley
Women’s strawweight title: Zhang Weili (c) vs. Amanda Lemos [5]
Welterweight: Ian Machado Garry [13] vs. Neil Magny [11]
Bantamweight: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Mario Bautista
Bantamweight: Marlon Vera [6] vs. Pedro Munhoz [10]
Prelims
Middleweight: Chris Weidman vs. Brad Tavares
Middleweight: Gregory Rodrigues vs. Denis Tiuliulin
Lightweight: Austin Hubbard vs. Kurt Holobaugh
Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs. Cody Gibson
Early prelims
Middleweight: Andre Petroski vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Women’s Flyweight: Andrea Lee [13] vs. Natalia Silva
Women’s Flyweight: Karine Silva vs. Maryna Moroz
Picture source: Getty Images
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