Sterling ‘Can’t Respect’ O’Malley’s ‘Tailor-Made’ Win

“That was a tailor-made fight for Sean to look great.”

Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley successfully defended his 135-pound strap by knocking around No. 5-ranked title contender Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 pay-per-view (PPV) main event last weekend in Miami, a 25-minute shooting gallery that had “Suga” disappointed in the non-finish.

“Something about not getting a finish that just doesn’t sit right with me,” O’Malley said at the UFC 299 post-fight press conference (watch it here). “It’s just like, ‘F*ck.’ But I also haven’t watched it. Once I watch it back, I think I’ll be a little bit more excited. I always want to get that finish.”

Turns out O’Malley wasn’t the only one disappointed in the outcome.

Former bantamweight kingpin, Aljamain Sterling, was unimpressed by the five-round “Suga” show, suggesting the promotion “tailor-made” the Vera fight to help the new champ glow in “The Sunshine State.” It’s also worth noting that Sterling — stopped by O’Malley at UFC 292 last August — trains with snubbed contender Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley continued his pursuit of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria after UFC 299.

“He should have called out Merab and did the right thing,” Sterling said of O’Malley on his YouTube channel (transcribed by Drake Riggs). “I think it’s kind of ridiculous for him to say, ‘Dana [White], get the jet to Spain.’ Like what’re you talking about, dude? You defended the belt against a guy who wasn’t even ranked in the Top 5. They moved him up to the Top 5 to make it look like it was better like he fought a Top 5 opponent. How did Chito move up in the rankings? Who did he beat to move up in the rankings? He just barely beat Pedro Munhoz, who Pedro just lost a pretty decisive fight to Kyler Phillips.”

“No knock on Pedro, I’m not trying to throw strays,” Sterling continued. “I’m just trying to call a spade a spade. Yeah, [O’Malley] won, but it would be nice to fight a guy who’s next in line. So, that’s the only thing that I feel a little bit awkward about. Yeah, you won, but you won against a guy we were all expecting you to beat. So, as a champion, it’s hard for me to put a lot of stock in that because I just can’t respect it as much.”

This controversial outcome probably doesn’t help O’Malley’s cause.

“At the end of the day, if you beat the next best guy, that’s a true champion,” Sterling said. “I think anybody with any type of respect for the game — you can say, ‘Well, that’s not the way the sport is being played anymore.’ That’s fair, but we’re talking about credibility in terms of the win. You go out there against a guy you’re supposed to beat and you beat him to a decision. Even O’Malley was kind of like, ‘Damn, I really thought I could finish him.’ That would have been a perfect highlight reel.”

“A win, but now you kind of have that question mark of, Well, if you fought the next best guy, would that fight look the same?” Sterling concluded. “If you fought [Cory] Sandhagen, if you fought Merab, would that fight have looked the same? It’s a good win to get your feet wet as the bantamweight king and I do look forward to O’Malley hopefully doing the right thing and calling out Merab. UFC doing the right thing and making this fight.”

Expect a decision on O’Malley’s next fight at some point over the next few weeks.