Following Aljamain Sterling’s UFC 288 victory over Henry Cejudo, Sean O’Malley entered the octagon for a face-off with the bantamweight champion. The No.2-ranked bantamweight recently shared his thoughts on being up close and personal with ‘Funk Master’.
Speaking to The Schmo, ‘Sugar’ stated:
“In the schmoment, I thought, you know what, this dude is not as big as he looks on TV. I’ve seen him in person at the [UFC Performance Institute] and stuff with clothes on. The dude is shredded, don’t get me wrong, but he’s just not as big as he looks. I think he’s got them long arms, but yeah, it felt really good seeing him face to face. I had Merab hold my jacket while I was able to really get in the schmoment with Aljo.”
Sean O’Malley also shared his prediction for when he will clash with Aljamain Sterling, stating:
“I don’t think Aljo has very much pull as far as like, ‘hey Dana, I don’t want to fight in August’. I don’t think he’s got that pull. I do think August 19th sounded like that’s what Dana wanted, in Boston. If I had to guess, I would say August 19th in Boston is it. It’s not official though so until it’s official, it’s not official. Science.”
O’Malley has not entered the octagon since earning a controversial split-decision victory over Petr Yan at UFC 280. The No.2-ranked bantamweight will look to silence his doubters by claiming the title. Meanwhile, Sterling will look to defend his title for the fourth time.
Sean O’Malley shares prediction for Aljamain Sterling title fight
Sean O’Malley is set to receive his first title opportunity against Aljamain Sterling later this year. The No.2-ranked bantamweight shared his prediction for the bout while speaking with The Schmo, stating:
“His awkwardness is effective but I think it will be the downfall of him because I am a sniper. You can’t walk forward like that with me and cross your feet with your chin in the air because I will find it and I will find it often. I’m not saying I’m gonna go out there and one-shot him, put his lights out in the first. I just believe that I will hit him over and over and over again to where he will fall.”
While O’Malley believes that he will be able to pick Sterling apart, he did label ‘Funk Master’ as the greatest bantamweight of all-time. The current bantamweight champion has the most consecutive title defenses in division history.
Check out Sean O’Malley’s comments on Aljamain Sterling below (starting at the 1:00 mark):