According to the Action Network, at press time, Aljamain Sterling is the -265 favorite over Sean O’Malley (+200). But O’Malley isn’t paying much attention to the betting odds, or the fans who doubt he can defeat Sterling.
“I don’t really care what people say,” O’Malley said at the UFC 292 media day on Wednesday in Boston. “It doesn’t really effect me. I kind of like being the underdog, being doubted. Going into this fight, I don’t have much pressure. He’s the bantamweight GOAT. He’s on a nine-fight winning streak and he’s saying I haven’t earned the shot. How stupid will he looked when I go out there and knock him out, not even have earned being in that position, and putting his lights out. It makes him look real stupid.”
And O’Malley doesn’t see a way he turns out badly in the scenario, even if he doesn’t defeat Sterling on Saturday.
Sean O’Malley thinks he knocks out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292
“… If I go out there and knock him out and he goes up to 145, boom, I carry on what he was doing in the division, taking people out. If he goes out there and wins and moves up to 145, I’m the last person to fight for the belt. I’m the champ either way. I like this situation. It’s a win-win either way,” he said.
Sterling hasn’t lost a fight since 2017 and is expected to defeat O’Malley and then move up to 145 pounds, but in MMA anything can happen and all situations are a possibility.
“I’d be lying if I said, ‘No (this isn’t what I expected),’” O’Malley said of the fans suddenly turning against him. “It definitely feels like it’s playing out that way. I still have to get into an octagon with Aljamain Sterling, the best bantamweight of all time, and do that magic.
“I still have to go out there, perform it and do what it’s all kind of looking like is supposed to happen. I’m going to go out there and put his lights out. I still have got to go out there and do it. I’m 100 percent capable of that. That’s where I get that confidence from.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/sean-omalley-fueled-doubters-ufc-292-video
