"I'm not a d*ckhead" - Aljamain Sterling surprisingly comes to Sean O'Malley's defense, asks fans to "give him a break"

Aljamain Sterling recently shared his take on Sean O'Malley losing the bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last weekend. Sterling extended sympathy and urged fans to go easy on the Montana native.

UFC 306 was undeniably among the biggest shows the promotion ever put on and paid homage to Mexico's contribution to combat sports. The event was held at The Sphere in Las Vegas and offered fans a stunning audio-visual experience along with a host of exciting fights. In the main event, Dvalishvili beat O'Malley via unanimous decision to be crowned the new king of the 135-pound division.

In the aftermath, O'Malley took to social media to crack a few light-hearted jokes about his title loss. However, some of his fans weren't pleased to see that. After O'Malley joked about the result being overturned on X, a fan slammed his callous reaction to losing the title. Sterling rushed to his former rival's defense and wrote:

"Stuart, give him a break. He just lost and is making light of a shitty situation. Cheers @FunkHarborRum."

Sterling later justified coming to O'Malley's defense despite the Montana native "gloating" about his title win over the 'Funk Master' at UFC 292 last August. After a fan asked Sterling about O'Malley "clowning" him, the 35-year-old wrote:

"I’m not a d**khead like Sean after fights are settled. He started gloating over his win with me, as if circumstances weren’t f**ked up to begin with despite his injury that happened “in camp.” Not coming into camp banged up. That’s not soft."

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Sean O'Malley shares update on return timeline after UFC 306 title loss

Sean O'Malley's next fight may not go down anytime soon. The Montana native recently shared an update about his return timeline, clarifying that he'll be taking an extended hiatus from fighting in light of his title loss.

As mentioned, Dvalishvili beat O'Malley via a unanimous decision at UFC 306 after putting on a dominant performance. The Georgian-born fighter used relentless pressure and takedowns to neutralize O'Malley's striking over five rounds, eventually walking away with the 135-pound strap.

In an episode of his podcast on YouTube, O'Malley addressed his loss and announced his break from fighting. He said:

"I know I can beat him... I probably won’t fight for nine months or ten months. Maybe a year. It’s gonna be a while. People are gonna have to watch the UFC without the 'Suga' show for a little bit."