Sterling Will Erase O’Malley ‘Mistake’ By Beating ‘Blessed’

And silence those Doubting Dannys in the process.

Aljamain Sterling is headed to 145 pounds.

Whether that happens in his next fight or somewhere down the line remains to be seen, but the 34 year-old bantamweight is planning to eliminate his difficult weight cut and in turn, improve his fight night performance. No doubt Sterling is also in a big hurry to erase his knockout loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 earlier this year in Boston, which cost “Funk Master” the 135-pound strap.

Whooping former featherweight champion Max Holloway would certainly accomplish that goal, while also resurrecting this potential title fight.

“I love Max, that’s my brother, and Aljamain Sterling is my brother, too,” former UFC heavyweight champion and current MMA analyst Daniel Cormier said during his “DC & RC” show on ESPN. “I don’t want to see them do this fight, but I also don’t want to see them do this fight because Max is too big for Aljamain Sterling. If Aljamain struggled with Sean O’Malley’s size, he would be in some real, deep trouble with Max Holloway. Yeah, I tap out on that one. It’s not a great look for ‘The Funkmaster.’”

Not surprisingly, Sterling (23-4) disagrees.

“[Cormier] was saying that he likes me, but he doesn’t think I should fight Max Holloway,” Sterling said on YouTube (transcribed by MMA News). “That kind of just makes me want to go up right out of the gate and just call him out and say, ‘I wanna show you guys what’s up.’ I know he said that if I struggled with O’Malley’s height and size, but I’m like, did I actually struggle? I made one mistake compared to the first round, where mostly I was pretty disciplined.”

“To say I would struggle, that kinda gets me going,” Sterling continued. “That kinda gets me wanting to be like, ‘Okay, I’ll show you guys what’s up.’ I don’t think people really understand big-body Aljo, what he can do compared to scrawny but shredded Aljo. It’s just different power. Max is the man, bro. Max is the f*cking man. I go out and I beat the man, bro, come on. And I think it erases my mistake — not completely.”

Holloway (25-7) competed a week after Sterling back in August, planishing Chan Sung Jung in the UFC Singapore main event. The 31 year-old Hawaiian — widely considered one of the all-time greats across any weight class — is hoping to work his way back to another 145-pound title shot but would probably welcome Sterling to featherweight with open arms.

One of may reasons why “Blessed” remains “the man.”