Sean O’Malley has no sympathy for UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling claiming that he needs to see how his body reacts for their scheduled upcoming bout.
Sterling defended his belt from former dual-division champion Henry Cejudo in the UFC 288 main event on May 6. When that happened, O’Malley was ushered into the Octagon to build-up a bout between the two at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston.
Aljamain Sterling injury comments put doubt around UFC 292
Since that time, some controversy has ensued because Sterling said that he’s had some lingering injuries that he needs to monitor, making sure his body reacts well in preparation for the bout. That has lead to UFC president Dana White, O’Malley, and others to question Sterling.
“He did just fight, but look at Izzy. Motherf**ker fought four times in 12 months,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel, referring to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. “You have four months. It was four months from the fight. Take two months off and then train hard for two months. It ain’t f**king science… or is it?”
Sterling has sent some mixed signals, mentioning his injuries and saying that he needs to see how his body reacts. But in another breath has said that he doesn’t back out of fights and has agreed to fight O’Malley. He even pressed the matter by daring O’Malley to fight on the upcoming UFC 290 fight card on July 8 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Sean O’Malley isn’t calling the shots, and neither is Sterling
O’Malley isn’t taking the bait. Instead, he is pushing back on Sterling seemingly acting like he’s calling the shots, at least that’s how it appears to O’Malley.
“He acts like he calls the shots,” O’Malley said on his video podcast. “I’m listening to the UFC. I’m not acting like I call the shots. Dana said August, so I said August. It’s not like I told Dana, ‘Hey, f**king run it in August. I run this sh*t.’ I said, ‘Hey, Uncle Dana.’ I didn’t call him daddy like (Sterling) said. I said, ‘Hey, Uncle Dana. When do you want me to beat up Aljo?’ And it happened to be August.”
Aljamain Sterling claps back after Dana White slight
Dana White insists Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley is on
Though White also appeared a somewhat baffled by Sterling’s comments when he addressed the matter following UFC Vegas 73 over the weekend, he said that the Sterling vs. O’Malley fight was happening at UFC 292, as planned.
“Aljo’s one of those guys that just can’t get out of his own way,” said White. “Apparently, he’s in for the fight. Why he said that, who knows? The fight is on. The fight is absolutely, positively on.”
Sean O’Malley calls out Aljamain Sterling over inconsistent statements
