Aljamain Sterling opens up on Sean O'Malley potentially facing Merab Dvalishvili next: "It's a hard fight to sell"

Aljamain Sterling recently opened up about Sean O'Malley possibly earning the next bantamweight title shot against Merab Dvalishvili. He highlighted 'Suga's skillset and explained why he wouldn't be confident in his chances.

'Funk Master' noted that the first encounter between 'The Machine' and 'Suga' could make it difficult for the UFC to promote, especially considering what transpired. Dvalishvili imposed his game plan and overwhelmed O'Malley with his grappling and takedowns en route to a unanimous decision win.

During his latest appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the former bantamweight champion weighed in on whether 'Suga' would be a good challenge for his teammate. Sterling mentioned that it would be a lucrative bout but doesn't foresee the outcome being any different based on how Dvalishvili defeated him:

"In terms of the better paycheck potentially, especially where Merab is now in his career, I think it might be the rematch with O'Malley. I just think, in my opinion, it's a hard fight to sell. You're not selling me on that O'Malley does anything differently other than hoping to catch him once in 25 minutes. I don't know, maybe he goes out and tries to toe kick him in the first round or something."

Check out Aljamain Sterling's comments below:

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Aljamain Sterling discusses Sean O'Malley's lack of activity

In addition to sharing his thoughts on a potential rematch between Merab Dvalisvhvili and Sean O'Malley, Aljamain Sterling discussed 'Suga's lack of activity in recent years.

During the aforementioned clip, Sterling mentioned that O'Malley hasn't been active, but isn't criticized like other fighters are for their extended layoffs between fights:

"O'Malley fought [Peter] Yan, he took 10-and-a-half, maybe 11 months off...then he fought me in August and then he took more time off. Came back in March...to fight 'Chito' [Vera]. And then he fought again in September, and then he has fought again or won't fight again until July or June...People talk about activity...It's just such a weird thing."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's post-fight interview following his win over Sean O'Malley below: