UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is set to defend his title against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 on August 19, 2023, in Boston. However, Sterling has recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the fight, stating that it is “against my will.”
Morning Report: Aljamain Sterling says Sean O’Malley title defense taken ‘literally against my will’ https://t.co/C9P7vbdo2U pic.twitter.com/JlCRby0XlP
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 6, 2023
Aljamain Sterling’s concerns
Sterling has expressed concerns about the fight, stating that he feels forced to fight in Boston without any chance to rest and rehab injuries. He has also expressed concerns about O’Malley’s resume, questioning whether he is ready to challenge for the bantamweight title.
O’Malley has only one top-5 win in his entire resume and that didn’t come without controversy. Many believed that Petr Yan did in fact beat Sean O’Malley in their fight at 280 back in October 2022.
The Verdict Scorecard had Petr Yan defeating Sean O’Malley.#UFC280 pic.twitter.com/WGb8B4Ynnt
— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) October 22, 2022
Sterling just went 25-minutes with ‘Triple C’ Henry Cejudo
Aljamain Sterling just had to defend his title back in May against a tough competitor in the former two-division champ and Olympic gold medalist ‘Triple C’ Henry Cejudo. He fought tooth and nail against one of the greats in the bantamweight and flyweight divisions until the very end of a grueling 25-minute affair.
Now, the UFC is asking Sterling to make one of the quickest turn around and title defenses in the history of this sport. The other quick turnaround was when Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Alex Perez in the first round at UFC 255 and then went on to attempt to defend his title against Brandon Moreno just 21 days later at UFC 256. This didn’t happen after a long drawn-out fight for 25 minutes where injuries were sustained during it.
Sterling is done with the bantamweight division win or lose
Aljamain Sterling has expressed that he is done as the bantamweight champion win or lose at UFC 292 against Sean O’Malley. He has said in the past that it is extremely hard for him at this stage of his career to cut down to 135 lbs so the move up to 145 lbs is imminent.
It is whether or not Sterling will be looking to make the jump to 145 lbs right into a title fight or not, that really comes down to whether or not he is able to defend his title for the fourth consecutive time. He is already one of the greatest bantamweight fighters in the history of the UFC and he will look to add to that as he takes “Sugar” Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 on August 19th.
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