"What an honor it is for you to get to fight me" - Sean O'Malley sends message to 'best bantamweight of all time' Aljamain Sterling

Sean O'Malley is fast approaching his first-ever UFC title opportunity, but that hasn't stopped him from sending a humorous and sincere message to his opponent. The champion Aljamain Sterling has too shared nice words about his challenger, though he believes his grappling will see him score a dominant victory.

'Sugar' has had an unusual run to his first shot at UFC gold, beating just one currently ranked contender and technically only boasting a one-fight win streak. Before his great performance against Petr Yan last time out, the fan-favorite fought to a no-contest in a closely-fought bout with Pedro Munhoz.

While sitting down to talk about his upcoming fight on BS w/ Jake Paul, Aljamain Sterling received a video message from Sean O'Malley. Although he did make some amusing remarks, the No.2-ranked bantamweight did give the champion his flowers:

"Aljamain 'Funk Master' Sterling. The greatest bantamweight of all time. Defended your belt three times. Beat guys like Henry Cejudo, double champ. Beat TJ Dillashaw, [and] finished him. Beat Petr Yan, not once but twice. You beat, in my opinion, one of the best in the division right now, Cory Sandhagen, in what? Six seconds. Congratulations, what an honor it is for you to get to fight me. Good luck, August 19th. May the best man win."

Sterling and O'Malley will headline the promotion's return to Boston when they collide at UFC 292. Several huge bantamweight clashes will too be on the same card, with Rob Font vs. Song Yadong, Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Vera, and Cody Garbrandt vs. Mario Bautista all set for August 19th.

Check out the challenger's message to the champion in the video below.

---

Sean O'Malley's comment: Why are people including Aljamain Sterling in bantamweight GOAT talks?

Not so long ago, Aljamain Sterling was considered by many to be a fraudulent champion who wouldn't hold on to the gold for a significant amount of time, but their views on the grappler are beginning to shift.

Despite controversially earning the belt, the 33-year-old proved his doubters wrong by beating Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw, and Henry Cejduo in back-to-back outings and potentially adding Sean O'Malley to that list.

The impressive three performances earned him the record for the most consecutive UFC bantamweight title defenses in the division's history. Not only does he hold records, but his resume strength is starting to have fans consider him in the greatest 135er of all-time discussions.