Aljamain Sterling is confident in the outcome of his rematch with Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley defeated Sterling by knockout in the second round in the main event of UFC 292 in August 2023. ‘Sugar’ has since defended the strap with a unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March of this year.
Meanwhile, Sterling earned a unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300 last month. “The Funk Master” claims he did not have the best camp for the fight against O’Malley due to his quick turnaround following his unanimous decision victory over Henry Cejudo in May 2023. Sterling also noted that O’Malley had nearly a year to prepare. He has been out of action since October 2022, when he won a split decision over Petr Yan.
Sterling is confident he can beat O’Malley in a rematch if he gets as much time as “Sugar” got in his first title defense against “Tito.”
“I hurt my shin so bad against Henry Cejudo that I had to take a month off. “Yeah, but Sean broke his ribs.” He went into training camp with a broken rib. There was no,” Sterling told Kanpai Media (via championship round). “The man took a 10-month vacation before joining the company.” [Petr] Yan is fighting to be ready for either me or Henry Cejudo. He defeated Yan and was left to sit and wait as if he were the champion. And then, as a champion, you’re told, “You’ve got to turn around and lose weight again.”
“And then again, O’Malley showed up that night. It was an off night for me, but the better guy won that night. But from August until the fight with ‘Tito’ in March , we know how long he waited and if there will be a rematch. Please give me time to recover, prepare and lose weight the right way. If it was a rematch, I would bet my life savings on it. But people will say I’m salty. “Skills are skills, facts are facts.” ”
Sterling currently weighs 145 pounds and training partner Merab Dvalishvili is expected to face O’Malley for his next title shot.
