Following his spectacular win over MMA legend Henry Cejudo this previous weekend at UFC 288, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling needs to solidify his legacy by including a featherweight title to his checklist of accomplishments.
Before he may pursue UFC gold within the featherweight division, Sterling (22-3) should defeat the flashy Sean O’Malley, who’s on a four-fight unbeaten streak.
Sterling, who holds the report for probably the most consecutive bantamweight title defenses (3), is predicted to defend his title in opposition to O’Malley later this 12 months.
O’Malley (16-1, 11 KO) gained notoriety for his unorthodox combating fashion, trash speak and distinctive look. The No. 2 ranked bantamweight, who has turn out to be one of the common fighters within the UFC, is primarily a striker with a mode that emphasizes pace, accuracy and vary.
The 28-year-old final fought at UFC 280, the place he defeated former 135-pound champion Petr Yan by cut up determination.
Sterling’s grappling abilities and submission abilities are thought-about to be his strengths with eight submission victories on his resume. He’s assured that he can dominate O’Malley, who has by no means fought in a five-round battle, on the bottom.
“I don’t think this fight’s really going past one [round],” Sterling instructed Ariel Helwani on the MMA hour on Monday. “I think [with] my IQ, my training, I should be able to see everything coming…I know I’m going to take him down, take his back, probably going to flatten him out and beat the s–t out of him.”
Should Sterling defeat O’Malley, he plans to maneuver up a weight class to problem both Alexander Volkanovski or Yair Rodríguez for the featherweight title, in hopes of turning into the fourth fighter in UFC historical past to turn out to be a simultaneous two-division champion, becoming a member of the likes of Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Cejudo.
“I think I have a good size frame to go up to [featherweight],” Sterling mentioned. “Hopefully, I can still have at least some kind of success at [featherweight]… where I can still work, make money, have fun, have fun fights, not torture myself [with a big weight cut] and I can be a little bit more active.”
The Volkanovski and Rodríguez title unification bout is reportedly scheduled to happen on July 8 at UFC 290.
Winning two UFC titles is a uncommon feat within the MMA world. Sterling’s quest for a pair of UFC titles is fueled by his need to show the doubters mistaken and turning into an all-time nice in MMA, no matter weight class.
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