Sean O’Malley is the new UFC bantamweight champion of the world. Headlining last night’s (Sat. August 19, 2023) UFC 292 pay-per-view (PPV) from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, O’Malley knocked out Aljamain Sterling to capture the 135-pound crown in spectacular fashion.
Although O’Malley seemed the epitome of confidence heading into the bout, he admits this was as nervous as he’s ever been for a mixed martial arts contest. The MMA community certainly seemed to agree, as many picked Sterling to emerge victorious at the end of the night. This was especially evident on the betting odds.
However, as O’Malley explained in the UFC 292 post-fight press conference, this isn’t exactly new territory for him. The Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series alumni explains that he’s been dealing with doubters his entire career, and continues to prove them wrong.
“I definitely just exceeded my expectations,” O’Malley said. “To go out there and do it like that – f*cking crazy. But there’s still going to be the haters on Twitter, there’s still going to be the bantamweights that ‘Yeah, but -’ Before I fought Petr (Yan) they were like ‘This dude can’t beat Petr. It’s Petr Yan, you can’t beat him.’ Go out there, out-strike him, beat him. Fighting Aljo – I don’t know the odds but I’m betting I wasn’t a favorite in this fight going into it. Everyone was counting me out. But then I go out there and do that. I could fight whoever next and it’s gonna be like, ‘Yeah, but -’ but that’s just how it is.”
As for how much the betting odds favored Sterling heading into the fight, O’Malley admitted that – had he been on the outside looking in, he likely would have put money on Sterling to leave victorious as well.
“It makes me laugh,” O’Malley said. “To be honest, if I wasn’t me, and I was looking at me versus Aljo, I would’ve just put money on Aljo too. He was – he beat Petr Yan twice – once – he beat TJ Dillashaw, he beat Henry Cejudo, he’s on a nine-fight win streak – he was dominating the bantamweight division. The best bantamweight of all time, defended the belt three times. Then I’m coming up and my best win was against Petr Yan in a very close fight. I mean the odds, I probably would’ve bet against me too if I didn’t know me and the confidence I possess.”
It will be interesting to see what’s next for “Suga” now that he has captured UFC gold. He certainly has no shortage of options for his first title defense. Names such as Merab Dvalishvili, Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Umar Nurmagomedov, or even a rematch with Sterling jump out.
One thing is for certain, O’Malley has made it clear he’d like to make that first title defense in December, which just so happens to be the card that Conor McGregor was initially expected to make his highly-anticipated return against Michael Chandler. O’Malley’s rise to stardom in the UFC has often been heavily compared to McGregor’s, making such a potential December pairing fitting to say the least.
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/sean-omalley-i-wouldve-put-money-on-aljo-too-ufc-292