‘Funkmaster’ Too ‘Insecure’ To Move Up To 145

O’Malley expects Sterling to stick around at 135 where he has a big size advantage over other bantamweights.

What’s next for Aljamain Sterling? It’s been a big question since the UFC denied his request to rematch Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title. Now O’Malley will face Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299. Sterling says he plans on moving to 145 pounds … but will he?

“Suga” Sean is not so sure.

“I think if he goes up to 145, it’d be super interesting,” O’Malley said during a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “I think there’s a lot of interesting fights up there at ‘45, I think his weight gets big enough for that. You know, I’m probably 160 right now, I probably not getting over this. He’s probably 175. Like, it just doesn’t make sense to go back to 135, for his health, for his longevity.”

“I think there’s certain matchups at 145 that he could do good,” he added. “What about Aljo versus, like, Brian Ortega? That’s a sweet fight.”

In the end, though, O’Malley expects Sterling to continue trying to wring an advantage out of weight cutting back to bantamweight.

“He’ll probably go back down to 135, just because he’s insecure and he wants to be stronger and bigger than these guys,” O’Malley concluded. “Why else would he not fight at 145? It’s not like his skills aren’t there. His skills, he’s good. Not as good as me, but he’s good. You know what I mean? He could go up to 145, I think he’d do fine up there.”

Sterling has been somewhat wishy-washy about a move from 135 to 145, but as time goes on he sounds more and more committed. Recently, he revealed the UFC had offered him a fight with No. 7 ranked featherweight Calvin Kattar. He sounds more interested in fighting No. 1 ranked Max Holloway. Given his time as UFC bantamweight champion, we can’t say he doesn’t deserve a big name like “Blessed.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Which weight class do you expect to see “Funkmaster” compete in next?