Sean O’Malley KOs Aljamain Sterling to secure bantamweight belt
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Aljamin Sterling (left) fights Sean O’Malley during UFC 292 at TD Garden.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BOSTON – Sean O’Malley overcame “pressure” to become the new bantamweight champion on Saturday night by knocking out Aljamain Sterling during the main event at UFC 292 at TD Garden.
O’Malley (17-1) used a vicious right hook to Sterling’s face to send the defending champion to the mat, where he then used a barrage of punches to end the bout just 51 seconds into the second round.
“Honestly, this was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a fight,” O’Malley said in his post-fight interview in Boston, Massachusetts.
“In my eyes, Aljamain Sterling is the best bantamweight of all time. I was a little bit nervous, but I never lost the confidence because I know what I possess in this f****** right hand!
“I said going into this fight, it only takes one mistake against me. I don’t even know if that was a mistake — I’m just that f****** good!”
It was the fifth victory for O’Malley in his last six UFC fights. He settled for a no-contest on July 2, 2022, after accidentally poking Pedro Munhoz in the eye.
Sterling (24-4) saw a nine-fight winning streak come to an end, after referee Marc Goddard waved off the bout when he saw the New York native roll through to protect himself from absorbing any more punishment.
Sterling did not complain about the stoppage and complimented O’Malley’s performance, though he admitted the loss might change his plans to move to the featherweight division.
“Sean is a lot better than I thought. He did really good job of being elusive and staying on the outside of the cage. I can’t say nothing bad about the guy. Congrats to him and his team. This was nothing but respect at the end of the day,” Sterling said.
“I’ve lost before, I’ve been knocked out before. I picked myself up and I became a UFC champion. Do not be surprised if you come back and you see me in here again and this time getting the belt. Definitely got to go back and reassess some things because if he caught me like that, I could only imagine what (Alexander) Volkanovski would do.”
Zhang Weili (24-3) beat Amanda Lemos (13-3-1) by unanimous decision to retain her women’s strawweight title. The cards read 50-43, 50-44, 49-45 in favour of Zhang.
The win perhaps sets up an all-China affair against Yan Xiaonan for the strawweight title, in a fight that could potentially take place in China for the first time since 2019, when Zhang won her maiden belt in Shenzhen.
Ian Garry (13-0), Mario Bautista (13-2) and Marlon Vera (21-8-1) also won their fights by unanimous decision on Saturday. REUTERS, XINHUA
