Sean O’Malley beats Aljamain Sterling to claim bantamweight title

Sean O’Malley KOs Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292

Sean O’Malley claimed the UFC bantamweight title by defeating Aljamain Sterling with a second-round knockout at UFC 292 in Boston.

Following a cautious opening round, the second round began with O’Malley dodging Sterling’s punches. “Sugar” retaliated with a precisely timed right hand, sending the “Funk Master” to the ground. O’Malley then continued to deliver ground punches before the referee halted the fight, resulting in a loud cheer from the crowd.

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“This was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a fight,” O’Malley said.

The new champion described Sterling as one of the best Bantamweight fighters but also emphasized that he had never lost his confidence to win the fight. Before the bout, Sterling held the record for the most wins in UFC bantamweight history with 14 victories and a nine-fight win streak.

Despite the predictions of many pundits that Sterling would dominate O’Malley via wrestling, the challenger managed to find safety in their grappling exchanges.

Following the fight, O’Malley issued a challenge to Marlon Vera, who secured a victory over Pedro Munhoz earlier that evening.

O’Malley’s post-fight conference

During the post-fight press conference, O’Malley highlighted his ability to punch backwards, saying, “Punching backwards is a skill not a lot of people possess and I can punch going backwards and I knew he was going to be pressuring me and I know he likes to throw to shoot.”

Moreover, he pointed out that Sterling tends to throw punches for him to counter, creating an opportunity for him to “shoot under.”

“It really wasn’t even a bad punch that he threw, it’s just I’m that f****** accurate. I sniped him. I’ve been saying all week, I’m a sniper. I’m going to snipe his chin. I’m going to find it and there we were. That’s definitely a punch I visualized all week,” O’Malley said.

Following his title loss, Sterling had nothing but praise for O’Malley, admitting that he was better than he had anticipated.