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Sean O'Malley is scheduled to face Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 292 in August. 'Sugar' made an appearance in the octagon at UFC 288 following Sterling's victory over Henry Cejudo, which all but cemented O'Malley as the next title contender, and also made for entertaining viewing.
During a recent interview with ESPN MMA, O'Malley's coach has shared the crucial mistake Cejudo made against the 'Funk Master'.
Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, and is one of the greatest grapplers to grace the octagon. However, Tim Welch believes that 'Triple C' did not factor in how much the fence would help Sterling take Cejudo down. He said this:
"I knew [Aljamain Sterling] would be able to take him down against the fence, and I really think that Henry thought. 'There is now way [Sterling] can take me down.' But the fence changes so much, you can lock your hands, you can put all your weight on someone and then you can get the takedown."
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UFC 292 will see two titles fights taking place on the card, with Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley and Zhang Weili vs. Amanda Lemos.
The 'Funk Master' has a notoriously tough time making the 135 pound bantamweight limit. Also, the back-to-back weight cuts in such a short space of time could drastically affect his cardio and ability to take a punch.
However, Sterling has proved his doubters wrong time and again, amd now holds the record for the most bantamweight title defenses (3) in modern MMA history.
Sean O'Malley will be at UFC 292 whether he faces Sterling or not
Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling are set to battle at UFC 292 in August.
Sterling previously expressed little interest in such a quick turnaround following UFC 288, and stated that he wanted to fight in September.
Following the bout's confirmation, 'Sugar' reacted to Sterling being coerced into fighting sooner than he would like to. Sean O'Malley stated that he will be ready come fight night, regardless of whether he faces the current champion or not.
"I'm showing up August 19th, whether [Sterling] shows up or they put someone else in there. Daddy's main eventing, headlining for the belt regardless, whether its [Sterling] or not."
Watch the video below from 6:40:
