The combination of a powerful right hand and stupendous ground game crowned Sean O’Malley as the new UFC Bantamweight Champion, courtesy of his second round knockout of Aljamain Sterling in the main event of UFC 292 this Saturday night at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Aside from securing the 135-pound gold in his first title shot, “Sugar” ended Sterling’s streak of three successful defences by landing a powerful right hand right at the 51-second ark in the second round, which dropped “Funk Master”, followed by O’Malley coming up with an impressive ground and pound to secure the TKO.
The American fighter kept his promise to knock out Sterling and now has his sights set on avenging his loss against Marlon “Chito” Vera in August 2020.
“I said going into this fight, it only takes one mistake against me. I don’t even know if that was a mistake — I’m just that f*cking good,” said O’Malley following the win. “This is just the beginning of the ‘Suga’ era. I’m running this sh*t until 2035, baby. Did ‘Chito’ win? Was it boring? Probably. I’ll whoop ‘Chito’s’ ass in December in Vegas at T-Mobile. Let’s f*cking go!” [H/T MMA Mania]
The first round became saw a neck to neck contest between the two fighters, with both Sterling and O’Malley testing each other with punching combinations and keeping each other at bay through kicks.
In the second round, even though Sterling kept up his intensity, the unforeseen right hand from O’Malley sent him to the canvas, followed by the ground and pound to secure the finish and the Bantamweight throne.
UFC 292 Full Result
- Main Event: Sean O’Malley defeats Aljamain Sterling by TKO (strikes) at 0:51 of Round 2
- Co-Main Event: Zhang Weili defeats Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 49-45)
- Ian Machado Garry defeats Neil Magny by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-24)
- Mario Bautista defeats Da’Mon Blackshear by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-29, 30-27)
- Marlon Vera defeats Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Brad Tavares defeats Chris Weidman by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gregory Rodrigues defeats Denis Tiuliulin by KO (elbows) at 1:43 of Round 1
- Kurt Holobaugh defeats Austin Hubbard by submission (triangle choke) at 2:39 of Round 2
- Brad Katona defeats Cody Gibson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Andre Petroski defeats Gerald Meerschaert by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Natalia Silva defeats Andrea Lee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Karine Silva defeats Maryna Moroz by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:59 of Round 1
SHARE
