Aljamain Sterling recently spoke about his rivalry with Sean O’Malley. He cleared up misconceptions and revealed what bothers him most about it. According to Sterling, there is only one thing that bothers him.
Sterling and O’Malley faced off in the main event of UFC 292 in 2023. ‘Suga’ earned a 2nd round TKO to capture the bantamweight championship. The fight also marked ‘Funk Master’s final bantamweight bout, as he moved up to featherweight permanently afterward.
Although Sterling accepted the loss, he is bothered by O’Malley’s claim that he beat him at his best. During a recent appearance on Pound 4 Pound, the former bantamweight champion criticized ‘Suga’ for making such claims.
Sterling explained that he had a quick turnaround between fights, which affected his performance.
“My main thing with O’Malley is that he paraded around as if he beat the best version of me. And that’s my only gripe with him,” Sterling said. “It’s the gloating that doesn’t sit right. He put my [expletive] picture on his podcast wall. This is the type of [expletive] that gets you slapped in person. But then to gloat about, ‘I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time at the time,’ and I’m just like, ‘Yo, brother, you [expletive] me off.’”
Aljamain Sterling Expresses Interest in Rematch with Sean O’Malley
Aljamain Sterling has expressed interest in a rematch with Sean O’Malley, but there is one condition.
Speaking with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on Pound 4 Pound, Sterling said a rematch could only happen at featherweight. He is currently in the title picture at featherweight and no longer wants to cut down to 135 pounds.
Sterling made it clear that despite his interest, he holds no animosity toward O’Malley and wishes him well.
“If O’Malley wants to come up to [featherweight], I would gladly entertain it. Other than that, the chapter is closed. I’m happy for him, I’m glad he has a family,” Sterling said. “I’m not salty about [the loss]. But if you wanna come up to 145 [pounds], I’m right here.”
Sterling Believes Outcome of O’Malley Fight Would be Different
Sterling shared his thoughts on what he believes would have transpired if he fully healthy when facing O’Malley.
‘Funk Master’ entered the fight less than three months after his split decision win over Cejudo. Sterling feels that if he had more recovery time and a full training camp, the outcome would have been different.
“If I was on point the way I was with any other fight, [O’Malley] was getting squished. That’s respectfully saying that. I know I’m gonna get heat for saying that, I just wasn’t in the correct headspace, ” Sterling said. “Guys, you’ve seen me fight multiple times. If you think that was the best version of me against O’Malley, you’re [expletive] stupid and you don’t know [expletive] about fighting.”
Sterling also pointed to Merab Dvalishvili‘s two wins over O’Malley as an indicator of how he would won.
“Me seeing Merab doing him the way that he’s done two times now makes me feel better,” Sterling said. “I’m vindicated. I know how I train and how the training sessions go between Merab and I in terms of the competitiveness, so it makes me feel better. So, I’m just like, I know that fight shouldn’t have gone like that and I know I’m not crazy.”
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