UFC 292: Aljamain Sterling loses his title to Sean O'Malley
Aljamain Sterling, right. faces Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 in Boston on Saturday. Credit: Jeffrey Basinger
No longer the championship belt holder in the UFC bantamweight division, Aljamain Sterling showed the character of a champion in life beyond mixed martial arts competition in the moments after his loss.
“Congrats to him and his team,” Sterling said after losing to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 in Boston on Saturday. “I can’t say nothing bad about the guy. This was nothing but respect at the end of the day, another guy chasing the dream.”
O’Malley achieved his dream 51 seconds into the second round, ending Sterling’s run of three straight bantamweight title defenses and nine straight wins, both UFC records among the 135-pounders.
Sterling moved in and lunged with a left punch, and O’Malley found a opening to land a clean right hand to drop Sterling. O’Malley (17-1, 1 no contest) moved in and landed strikes as Sterling (23-4) scrambled on the ground before referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout.
“I’ve lost before,” Sterling said. “I’ve been knocked out before. I’ve picked myself up and I became the UFC champion. Do not be surprised if you come back and see me in here again this time getting the belt.”
This fight was billed as a classic grappler (Sterling) vs. striker (O’Malley). But there wasn’t as much grappling as O’Malley was able to defend Sterling’s two takedown attempts. O’Malley said after the fight that he hadn’t grappled in six weeks as he tried to let a muscle strain in his core heal up as much as possible before this fight.
“This was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a fight,” O’Malley said. “In my eyes, Aljamain Sterling is the best bantamweight of all time. So yeah, I was a little bit nervous for this fight, but I never lost the confidence because I know what I possess in this [expletive] right hand baby.”
The first round was something of a feeling-out process for both fighters. O’Malley landed just eight strikes in the first round, and Sterling connected on 20, most of which came in close in the final 20 seconds of the round. It was enough of an output to win the first round on all three judges’ scorecards.
“Sean is a lot better than I thought,” Sterling said. “He did a really good job being elusive and staying on the outside of the cage.”
The second round opened with more action before O’Malley landed the decisive counter-punch.
“It only takes one mistake against me. I don’t even know if that was a mistake, I’m just that [expletive] good,” O’Malley said. “This is just the beginning of the ‘Suga’ era.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
