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Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling will do battle in the main event of UFC 292 next weekend to decide the bantamweight champion. O'Malley appears confident in his chances of victory heading into the bout, having been preparing for this matchup since October 2022.
Sterling will be hoping to make history on fight night by becoming the first UFC bantamweight champion to defend the title four consecutive times. 'Sugar', on the other hand, will be hoping to lay claim to the title in front of a packed Boston crowd, no doubt rooting for the Irish bloodline of O'Malley.
Sean O'Malley has been candid about Aljamain Sterling's chances of defeating him. Whilst 'Sugar' is not taking his opponent lightly, he has already got several names in mind for his first title defense.
O'Malley recently appeared on The MMA Hour hosted by Ariel Helwani, where 'Sugar' discussed what lay ahead for him following a UFC 292 victory. He said this:
"There's a couple of options. [Marlon 'Chito' Vera] is fighting Pedro [Munhoz], that'd be an interesting fight, two dudes I finished. So that's definitely an interesting one, so yeah probably that. There's options, a couple of options but it's so hard, you can't look past [Aljamain Sterling]."
Watch the video below from 18:00:
Aljamain Sterling will be making a quick turnaround to face Sean O'Malley at UFC 292. 'Funk Master' successfully defended his title in a five-round war against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 in May, but was given little time to rest before his fight with 'Sugar' was announced.
Cory Sandhagen predicts Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley
Sean O'Malley will take on Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 next weekend in a much anticipated affair. Their clash will headline the pay-per-view card, and with less than two weeks until fight night, predictions for the main event have begun pouring in.
A former opponent of Sterling's, Cory Sandhagen, recently shared his thoughts on the matchup. 'The Sandman' picked Sterling to successfully defend his title, pointing to the incredible fight IQ that he possesses as one of his main strengths.
Sandhagen said:
"I think Sterling is going to win that one. I don't know, a lot of Sterling's fights are pretty close, so I think Sterling is really good at staying [just enough] ahead [in the fight], and I think that's what he tries to do. It's a smart way of fighting, and so yes, I do think it will be a fairly close [fight]. But I think Sterling is really good at keeping track of winning."
Watch the video below:
