Sean O'Malley critical of Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling's star power: "They're not big enough"

Sean O'Malley is not happy that Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan don't have the star power to main event their own pay-per-view.

Sterling vs. Yan 2 was initially scheduled as the co-main event for UFC 272 in March. However, after the headlining featherweight title bout was adjusted and moved to UFC 273, the 135-pound unification clash went with it and will also go down at the April event.

Speaking on episode 171 of his TimboSugarShow podcast, the No.12-ranked O'Malley stressed that despite arguably being the best division in the UFC, the top two bantamweight fighters were not considered big enough to headline UFC 272.

"You know what is crazy to me? That Petr and Aljo can't main event their own pay-per-view. So their main event [Volkanovski vs. Holloway] pulled out and they [Sterling vs. Yan] could not just be the main event [instead]. They're not big enough. It is so weird. This [bantamweight] is the best division in the UFC, maybe, and they can't even headline their own pay-per-view."

Watch the episode of the TimboSugarShow below:

Aljamain Sterling holds a 20-3 win-loss record in his professional mixed martial arts career so far, while Petr Yan is 16-2.

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Sean O'Malley's only defeat came against Marlon Vera; is a rematch on the cards?

Sean O'Malley has 15 victories and one solitary defeat in his professional MMA career to date. The loss came via TKO at the hands of Marlon Vera in the co-main event of UFC 252 in August 2020.

O'Malley suffered a case of drop foot after one of Vera's kicks appeared to connect with his peroneal nerve. 'Sugar' believes he could have dominated 'Chito' if not for the injury.

However, No.8-ranked bantamweight superstar 'Chito' thinks otherwise and the duo have been going back and forth with each other for a while now. The pair are both without opponents as of this writing.

With his current thumb injury and desire to compete at a Las Vegas pay-per-view, O'Malley believes he may be out of action until deep into the year. When he does get back into the cage, perhaps a rematch with Vera will be on the cards.