Aljamain Sterling adamant, ‘I’ve earned my right to get an immediate rematch’

Aljamain Sterling adamant, ‘I’ve earned my right to get an immediate rematch’

Aljamain Sterling didn’t exactly want to fight Sean O’Malley as soon as UFC 292. He wanted a little more recovery time following a hard fight with former dual-division champion Henry Cejudo in May. That said, Sterling made no excuses for the loss to O’Malley, while calling for an immediate rematch.

Sterling became the UFC bantamweight champion with a questionable win because of an illegal knee against Petr Yan at UFC 259. He defended the belt in an immediate rematch and then went on to also keep gold in title defenses against T.J. Dillashaw and Cejudo.

Was Sterling really ready for O’Malley at UFC 292 after a grueling Cejudo bout?

Though the loss to O’Malley, the UFC 292 underdog, came as a surprise to many, including O’Malley, he made no excuses for the loss at the UFC 292 post-fight press conference.

“It definitely sucks. I’m not going to lie about that. There was a lot coming into this fight. The quick turnaround and everything, but I was happy to do it. No excuses,” Sterling said, not wanting to downplay O’Malley’s performance.

“Sean, he did a good job. That one thing I knew he would be good at is that step-back counter. It was just a good shot. I felt like I saw something else; I stepped in. He capitalized on the one mistake that I made and I paid for it.”

Sterling declined to say he wasn’t 100 percent healthy coming into the fight, saying, “I’m not gonna do that to Sean. I felt good. No excuses. I truly did feel like it was my night. I made one mistake and I paid for it.”

Sterling did admit that he felt like the fight didn’t need to be stopped. He insists that he was fine the second he rolled over, but he still didn’t diminish O’Malley taking advantage of his mistake.

“I felt like the fight could’ve still kept going, to be honest. I rolled over to try to come back up, and as soon as he stepped in, I was fine,” Sterling continued.

“It was just one of those things. I can’t be mad at the ref. It is what it is. Losing sucks. Especially losing to him. He’s a good fighter man.”

So where did things go wrong for Sterling against O’Malley at UFC 292?

Still, not making excuses, Sterling believes one of the biggest mistakes he made was getting caught up in the idea that he needed the fight to be exciting for the fans. He had worked on a strategy of staying to the outside and chipping away with leg kicks.

O’Malley apparently prepared to hang back and wait for an opportunity for that step-back counter. O’Malley’s patience paid dividends. Sterling’s audible did not.

“He stayed disciplined to his game plan. I kind of let trying to be more of an exciting style for the fans play a factor. I made the mistake. Sean capitalized. I paid for it,” he said.

Will Sterling move up to featherweight as planned?

Prior to the fight, Sterling had said that it was all but a done deal that he would move up to featherweight after defeating O’Malley. But when O’Malley turned the table on him, Sterling’s thoughts on moving up changed a little bit.

He still hates the idea of the stringent weight cut that it takes for him to get down to the 135-pound bantamweight limit, but his desire to regain the belt that O’Malley took from him seems to mean more.

“I don’t know which way I’m going to go with things,” Sterling said in regard to a future move to featherweight, but added, “I would first and foremost love a chance to run that back and just to get some definitive answers.

“That is 100 percent what I would like the most. I would like to think that I’ve earned my right to get an immediate rematch.”