BOSTON – Aljamain Sterling hopes the tale of him vs. Sean O’Malley is not over, in the wake of pure disappointment.
In the UFC 292 main event, Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) was knocked out by O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) at 0:51 of Round 2 after a close first round. The loss was his second knockout loss, ended his bantamweight title run, and snapped a nine-fight winning streak.
“It definitely sucks,” Sterling told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “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.”
The finishing sequence (which can be viewed in full here), came after Sterling was dropped with a right hand. As O’Malley swarmed, Sterling eventually turned to his belly and referee Marc Goddard dove in to stop the fight.
While he said he felt relatively OK (despite forgetting what state he was in), Sterling thinks he could’ve gone a bit longer – though he holds no ill will toward Goddard.
“I felt like the fight could’ve still kept going, to be honest,” Sterling said. “I rolled over to try to come back up, and as soon as he stepped in, I was fine. It was just one of those things. I can’t be mad at the ref. It is what it is.”
While he was complimentary of his opponent and refused to discredit the win when given the opportunity, Sterling wants a second opportunity to prove he’s capable of victory.
“I would love to have a rematch,” O’Malley said. “… I don’t know which ways I’m going to go with things. I would first and foremost love a chance to run that back and just to get some definitive answers.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
