Aljamain Sterling claims UFC gave Sean O'Malley some time to improve his grappling

Aljamain Sterling seemingly believes that Sean O'Malley is good for the sport of MMA as he brings more attention to it. That said, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion has also criticized O'Malley and the UFC.

'Funk Master' claimed that UFC accords 'Sugar' preferential treatment and wants the latter to beat him in a potential championship fight.

'Aljo' added, however, that the UFC isn't confident about O'Malley's grappling and is therefore delaying a possible fight between them.

Sean O'Malley's most recent bout was a number-one contender's matchup that witnessed him beat Petr Yan via a controversial split decision. In the latest edition of his podcast, The Weekly Scraps, Aljamain Sterling and his podcast guests addressed the same.

They pointed out that since Sean O'Malley is the number-one contender, he should face Sterling for the title. They also unanimously agreed that Sterling, who's a grappling savant, would be a bad stylistic matchup for 'Sugar.'

Furthermore, Sterling alluded to the fact that he's likely to defend his title against returning former double-champ Henry Cejudo next.

The 135-pound kingpin explained that the UFC staff are delaying O'Malley's title shot as they want to give him adequate time to improve his grappling skills:

"It's just funny, like, for me to have the meeting with the [UFC] staff, and for them to pretty much say, like, 'Yeah, we know you're gonna kill this guy, bro.' Pretty much not in those same exact words, but that's what they said, like, 'We know your grappling is a lot better, and he [O'Malley] needs time to pretty much close the gap.'"

Sterling continued:

"I'm like, 'So, you're just saying without saying -- You want him to win. And you're saying what you're saying without saying it that I will pretty much derail him or say you would take him down and dry-h**p him all day.'"

Watch Sterling discuss the topic at 50:37 in the video below:

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Brendan Schaub on why Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley is the fight to make

It's believed that Aljamain Sterling will likely defend his bantamweight belt against former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo next.

Regardless, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub criticized the potential Sterling-Cejudo matchup. On a recent episode of The Schaub Show, he notably called for Sterling to fight Sean O'Malley instead.

The retired fighter highlighted that both Sterling and O'Malley had expressed interest in fighting one another next. Also indicating that Cejudo might retire again after beating Sterling and 'Sugar', Schaub opined that the UFC would be better off booking a Sterling-O'Malley fight. 'Big Brown' said:

"I don't see the UFC bending over backwards for Henry Cejudo to get in there and dethrone Aljamain Sterling anytime soon. Aljamain and 'Sugar's the fight."

Watch Schaub's assessment at 1:20:50: