Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley at UFC 292

ALJAMAIN STERLING VS SEAN O’MALLEY FACTS

When is UFC 292? Sunday 30 August, 2023 - 01:00 (UK)

Where is UFC 292? TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (US)

Where can I get tickets for UFC 292?

What channel is UFC 292 on? TNT Sports 1

Where can I stream UFC 292? TNT Sports subscribers can stream the fight online via the TNT Sports website and Discovery+

ALJAMAIN STERLING VS SEAN O’MALLEY LOWDOWN

Aljamain Sterling (23-3) makes the fourth defence of his bantamweight strap. A dominant performance will make it hard to deny that he is in the conversation of the best bantamweights of all time. The division is the most stacked it has ever been and he is on a nine-fight win streak. He cemented his champion status after earning a split decision in his rematch with Petr Yan (2021) and went on to put a one-armed TJ Dillashaw (2022) out of his misery. His most impressive performance came in his last fight earning another split decision over Henry Cejudo back in May breaking the record of the most consecutive bantamweight title defences.

The next hungry challenger is Sean O’Malley (16-1(1)). Besides his TKO loss to Marlon Vera (2020) he has barely put a foot wrong in the UFC. After that loss, he went on to string three knockouts in a row over Thomas Almeida (2021), Kris Moutinho (2021) and Raulian Paiva (2021) before his ‘no contest’ with Pedro Munhoz (2022). Although it was an extremely close fight, his last outing granted him this title challenge earning a split decision over the former champion Petr Yan (2022).

ALJAMAIN STERLING VS SEAN O’MALLEY PREDICTION

Regardless of what has been said in the build-up, the game plan is key for both men. O’Malley will try and keep the fight on the feet and Sterling will hunt the back.

Sterling is an unorthodox, yet effective striker and O’Malley has very underrated jiu-jitsu. However, O’Malley’s striking and Sterling’s grappling is at the highest level in the division and they will want nothing to do with each other’s strengths.

Sterling’s wrestling was extremely impressive against Cejudo who was an Olympian and there is no one better in back control, so O’Malley will have devised a strategy to maintain the distance.

If he can, he has the technique and power to cause severe damage with all eight limbs. His knees in particular will be primed to fire down the middle when Sterling shoots in. If he connects clean, the fight could be over in an instant.

That said, it is hard to see Sterling not being able to close the distance and pounce on a body lock in each round and running down the clock if he cannot find a submission. That said, the odds are tempting when an elite striker is the heavy underdog against someone with suspect defence.

Prediction: Sterling via Decision