‘Sugar’ Blocked From Sterling PPV Points

No. 2-ranked bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley wants to know how many pay-per-view (PPV) buys were sold by the UFC 288 card last weekend in Newark, which had Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo battling for “Funk Master’s” bantamweight belt in the five-round main event.

Sterling edged past “Triple C” by way of split decision.

“I’m very curious what the PPVs did for this fight,” O’Malley told The MMA Hour. “I think me versus Aljo could double it — or I could double it, sorry. I think the fight’s gonna do the numbers it’s gonna do. I don’t necessarily have to sell the fight, I just think it’s gonna be twice as engaging. In my humble opinion, yes.”

O’Malley recently signed a longterm contract with the promotion and will likely earn a career-high payday for his proposed Sterling fight, which could happen at some point in September, Unfortunately, the “tricky” negotiations left him without the benefit of PPV points.

Which may affect his desire to promote the bout.

“It sucks because the champ gets the PPV points, I wasn’t able to get that on my terms,” O’Malley continued. “If I do get that, maybe I try to push it a little more. But at the end of the day, I want it to do really well. Aljo’s gonna send me a little percentage of it, he said. It is what it is. I’m making a good amount money so I’m not too worried about it. I’m getting paid, so I’ll be alright without that. I still gotta go out there and do what I do — that’s take Aljo out and then we’ll go from there.”

Expect an official announcement in the coming weeks, if not sooner.