Following the conclusion of Saturday night’s main event at the Prudential Center. The UFC ushered the number one ranked Bantamweight contender, ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley, into the octagon for a face-off with the champion.
The whole scenario was reminiscent of a WWE promo as both fighters theatrically shouted at each other. What got people talking, though, however, was when Aljamain’s training partner, Merab, got a hold of O’Malley’s red jacket and climbed onto the edge of the octagon.
A light scuffle interrupted the post-fight interview between Sterling and Joe Rogan. Luckily, things calmed down before it got too out of control which would have been terrible optics. The whole situation was quite odd, but as the old saying goes, ‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity.’
Focus in the bantamweight division now turns to a future bout between O’Malley and Sterling. The former was asked about this in the post-fight press conference.
”That was the first time I’ve really had a face-to-face interaction with Aljo” O’Malley said. ”He’s jacked. That dude is jacked, but he’s not that big. He fights with his chin up a little bit. I was just letting him know [in the octagon], tuck that chin, or I’m gonna find it.”
When asked by Oscar Willis of The Mac Life how O’Malley sees his style [striking] compared to Sterling’s [grappling] ‘Suga Sean’ said:
”The way I beat Aljo is focused [for] 25 minutes, disciplined, throwing straight punches. I don’t want to give away too much, but Aljo’s beatable, very beatable; I thought he lost tonight. [I’m ready to fight] the sooner, the better; we’ll see what the UFC says. I’m sure it will be soon.”
O’Malley was asked if he was concerned about the champion’s wrestling ability considering he matched up well against the freestyle Olympic Gold medallist, Cejudo. O’Malley didn’t seem to be, stating that styles make fights and that he believes he would be challenging to get hold of.
Later in the post-fight press conference, Dana White was later asked when the fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. White said they were going to aim for August in Boston.
‘Suga’ Sean is coming off a hugely impressive victory over top bantamweight contender Petr Yan in October last year, extending his record to 16-1-1NC. The win silenced many doubters who believed ‘Suga’ was being overhyped and spoon-fed some opponents in his previous outings.
Even the champion, Ajamain Sterling, has had a lot of doubters due to how his first fight with Petr Yan ended. In hindsight, he was clever to run with the controversy as it helped increase his profile. With his recent wins coming over top-calibre opponents such as Cory Sandhangen, TJ Dillashaw, Petr Yan (x2), and now Henry Cejudo, it would be silly to continue writing off the former champion.
As respect for the champion grows, he must get used to being the favorite and not the underdog.
Discussion about this post