Sean O’Malley scored a second-round knockout win over Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 292 main event to capture bantamweight gold, before calling for a Marlon Vera rematch in his first title defence to finish an unforgettable year this December. The promotion have since announced Edwards vs. Covington will headline UFC 296 on Dec. 16, so Suga must wait until 2024 to satisfy that itch.
O’Malley expects January-March timeline for title defence
He wanted to get two championship fights banked before the year’s end, but that won’t be the case for new UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
Fresh and injury-free – a nagging training camp knock notwithstanding – the 28-year-old publicly called out divisional rival Marlon Vera after Chito’s decision win over Pedro Munhoz to kick off the UFC 292 main card.
Vera inflicted O’Malley’s first and only pro career defeat back in August 2020 via first-round TKO (elbows, punches) when a leg kick hit him in the peroneal nerve and the Contender Series graduate stumbled to the mat, abruptly compromised.
Moments later, Vera took advantage in top position and landed a series of elbows before securing a controversial stoppage win that has haunted the new champion ever since, even as they’ve gone down separate paths towards title contention.
Vera has been rewarded for his activity and earned a bigger platform on which to showcase skills many thought he didn’t have a few years ago, though has faltered against former champion Jose Aldo and more recently, Cory Sandhagen.
That said, the 30-year-old Ecuadorian has won five of his last six fights and wouldn’t be out of place as a worthy championship challenger given the landscape has once again changed after Sterling’s stoppage defeat opened up fresh matchups aplenty.
Try telling Aljamain that, though. The 34-year-old believes he’s worthy of a rematch – which recently dethroned champion isn’t – and having long spoken about a desire to test the waters at 145lbs as weight cuts get harder on his athletic frame, is content if close friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili [2] gets the next crack instead.
In any case, with the year’s final two pay-per-view events – UFC 295 on November 11 in New York, and UFC 296 on December 16 in Las Vegas – both filling up quickly, O’Malley will have to wait until the new year before plotting his Octagon return.
UFC 297 is expected to be in Toronto, Canada on January 20 and reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski eyes another title defence against Ilia Topuria [5] on a card that added Arnold Allen [4] vs. Movsar Evloev [9] this week.
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