Sean O’Malley isn’t going to have any “simple” fights going ahead.
The bantamweight division has arguably gotten pretty much as good because it has ever been in recent times. To acquire the throne atop the mountain, O’Malley needed to get by means of essentially the most dominant champion since its all-time greatest, Dominick Cruz, within the type of Aljamain Sterling. Needing simply over one spherical to place away “Funk Grasp” with strikes, O’Malley began his title reign at UFC 292 final August and has defended his belt as soon as.
That doesn’t imply O’Malley has fought the hardest competitors attainable, in line with the previous champion Sterling. The truth is, he believes the alternative was the case for “Sugar,” who earned his alternative off a controversial cut up determination nod over one other former champion, Petr Yan.
“I wish to see the most effective of the most effective compete, no excuses,” Sterling stated on Verse Us with Eric Nicksick. “Now, enter O’Malley. He fights one ranked man and will get a title shot — a cut up determination albeit. This isn’t me hating. That is simply calling a spade a spade. He was presupposed to battle me subsequent, which might give me sufficient time to organize. However as a substitute, they are saying [Henry] Cejudo is coming again, we would like you to battle him. At the back of their thoughts, they’re like, ‘Whoever wins this, we’re going to show them round for August.’
“So, he is aware of all this. I’m fairly certain he is aware of all this. Solely O’Malley might disclose this, proper? Or at the least the UFC knew that’s what they needed to do for certain. Give him the most effective alternative that they may to turn into a world champion by hindering and stacking the deck towards his opponent. For me, as a competitor, I can by no means respect that as a person — as a person, as a competitor. It’s just like the Jake Paul route. Stacking the deck so that you simply get these highlights otherwise you get these favorable matchups and these wins to look pretty much as good as you do.”
O’Malley’s profession has actually been loaded with highlights to date, together with the TKO of Sterling. General, the 20-fight veteran (18-1, 1 NC) has scored 12 knockout wins with just one submission underneath his belt.
Because the champion, the following two attainable title defenses will definitely be the toughest to beat for O’Malley, and that’s if he wins his subsequent one. Presently booked to face Merab Dvalishvili in Noche UFC’s most important occasion on Sept. 14, the undefeated 18-0 Umar Nurmagomedov is predicted to await the winner. Finally, Sterling believes the order of issues has gone a bit backward when evaluating their title reigns and it began with O’Malley’s first title protection at UFC 299 in Could.
“O’Malley may very well be an excellent champion, however for him to go on and battle the No. 6 ranked man in [Marlon] ‘Chito’ [Vera] after which placed on a clinic — okay, nice,” Sterling stated. “However once more, stacking the deck and favorable matchups so that you can look and seem as you’re ‘him.’
“He ought to have fought Merab first earlier than combating ‘Chito.’ …You get a neater title protection towards a man you’re clearly world’s higher than. Stylistically, the man’s not going to try to take you down. He can’t take you down as a result of he has no wrestling capability, and he’s ranked six. He didn’t even need to be in there.”
Whereas O’Malley has Sterling’s greatest good friend and teammate Dvalishvili to fret about subsequent, “Funk Grasp” will look to turn into the primary fighter to defeat the 18-0 Movsar Evloev in a featherweight affair at UFC 307 on Oct. 5.
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Future. Daniel Cormier expects Olympic champ Amit Elor to make MMA transition in the future: ‘They’re going to be in bother’
Shh. Machine Gun Kelly gives recommendation to Sean Strickland after viral encounter: ‘Shut the f*ck up … you’re a f*cking fool’
Rivals. Khabib Nurmagomedov: Tony Ferguson’s solely likelihood towards me was a ‘fortunate punch;’ Ferguson responds
Props. Kayla Harrison impressed by Alex Pereira’s judo expertise: ‘It’s loopy how briskly he picks stuff up’
Trolling. Dana White reacts to Merab Dvalishvili slicing personal stitches: ‘He’s simply f*cking with me now’
Postponed. ‘King Mo’ Lawal off BKFC 66 as a result of harm, return from retirement delayed
Disgusting. Michael Aswell’s grotesque minimize suffered on Contender Sequence revealed
Sound & Pound.
Quickest KOs in UFC historical past.
Contender Sequence highlights.
Full battle.
Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or discover one in all my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re presently actually into. I’ll decide the most effective one alongside my each day alternative and offer you a shoutout! You can even share within the feedback under — these are simply tougher to sift by means of typically!
This month’s full playlist:
Gordon.
Whoops.
Effectively carried out.
Aim.
I wish to battle on the final ppv card of the 12 months
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) August 28, 2024
On maintain?
After all of the discuss being an lively champion, reality is Belal isn’t even able to defend his title this 12 months https://t.co/tg7cy1sfxN
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) August 28, 2024
Informal beefing.
Throwback.
The extra Sterling talks about O’Malley, the more severe it sounds. The “Jake Paul” route merely doesn’t exist in MMA, man. That will just about be simply an MMA fighter combating completely boxers. Haven’t fairly seen that one but.
Thanks for studying!
Ballot
Did Sean O’Malley have a straightforward path to the title?
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