‘He Got Hit One Time And He Was Out’

Predicting a previous opening spherical end of incoming bantamweight challenger, Sean O’Malley, undisputed UFC champion, Aljamain Sterling doubts the Montana native’s potential to take his strikes sq. on his chin forward of an anticipated summer season title struggle between the duo.

Sterling, who most lately headlined UFC 288 simply earlier this month, managed to efficiently defend his undisputed bantamweight title for the third time – the only champion within the division’s historical past to attain such a feat, with a break up choice win over former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo.

Joined within the Octagon following his victory over Olympic gold medalist, Cejudo, Sterling was met by Dana White’s Contender Sequence product, O’Malley – with the #2 ranked bantamweight challenger anticipated to struggle the Uniondale gold holder later this 12 months – probably at UFC 292 in August.

Initially scoffing at a Boston, Massachusetts appearance to defend his title in opposition to O’Malley, Sterling, nonetheless, predicted a one-sided victory over the former when they eventually share the Octagon. 

“My ideas on Sean O’Malley; that motherf*cker is frail,” Aljamain Sterling mentioned. “Frail. You assume if I can take down a brief, stocky man like Henry (Cejudo) who’s really a gold medalist (within the Olympics) and truly has good takedown protection – what I’m going to do to Sean O’Malley, like?” 

“… I assure you, we step in there – I believe I fold that man in half in a single spherical,” Aljamain Sterling continued. “It’s simply gonna look – similar factor I did to (Cory) Sandhagen. Go on the market and stress ahead, he’s gonna use his footwork, I’m gonna minimize off the cage like I used to be simply speaking about. Ultimately, he’s gonna be on his backfoot, let him throw a silly kick that I’m gonna catch, I’m gonna bodylock him. And I’m gonna fold him in half like a garden chair, and that’s gonna be the struggle.” 

Aljamain Sterling predicts first spherical win over Sean O’Malley

And persevering with that sentiment within the weeks following their preliminary assembly, Sterling pointed to O’Malley’s stoppage loss to Ecuadorian contender, Marlon Vera again in 2020, claiming the incoming title chaser received’t be capable of develop a enough chin by the point they struggle.

“To tug a man like (Sean) O’Malley down – I imply, what’s this man gonna do to me?” Aljamain Sterling requested Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Actually – and I’m not attempting to be disrespectful. It’s a delicate jab, however it’s the reality. It’s a struggle, something can occur, however on the finish of the day, I believe everyone knows what his kryptonite is. We’ve seen him one time on his again and it was like a fish out on land. ‘Chito’ [Marlon Vera] smashed him and despatched him house. I believe ‘Chito’ might need hit him one time and his eyes rolled again behind his head.”

“That’s not signal,” Aljamain Sterling defined. “And he’s obtained a tiny head. He’s a tall – he talks about my weight, however he’s skinny. He’s a twig, he’s obtained a extremely tiny head – I obtained a extremely tiny head too – he obtained hit one time and he was out. It les me have somewhat extra confidence. I don’t assume you possibly can develop a chin over time. If I hit him squarely, take him down, that struggle’s nearly as good as over, in all probability in a single [round].”