Following his impressive win over MMA legend Henry Cejudo this past weekend at UFC 288, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling wants to solidify his legacy by adding a featherweight title to his list of accomplishments.
Before he could pursue UFC gold in the featherweight division, Sterling (22-3) must defeat the flashy Sean O’Malley, who is on a four-fight unbeaten streak.
Sterling, who holds the record for the most consecutive bantamweight title defenses (3), is expected to defend his title against O’Malley later this year.
O’Malley (16-1, 11 KO) gained notoriety for his unorthodox fighting style, trash talk and unique appearance. The No. 2 ranked bantamweight, who has become one of the most popular fighters in the UFC, is primarily a striker with a style that emphasizes speed, accuracy and range.
The 28-year-old last fought at UFC 280, where he defeated former 135-pound champion Petr Yan by split decision.
Sterling’s grappling skills and submission skills are considered to be his strengths with eight submission victories on his resume. He’s confident that he can dominate O’Malley, who has never fought in a five-round fight, on the ground.
“I don’t think this fight’s really going past one [round],” Sterling told Ariel Helwani on the MMA hour on Monday. “I think [with] my IQ, my training, I should be able to see everything coming…I know I’m going to take him down, take his back, probably going to flatten him out and beat the s–t out of him.”
Should Sterling defeat O’Malley, he plans to move up a weight class to challenge either Alexander Volkanovski or Yair Rodríguez for the featherweight title, in hopes of becoming the fourth fighter in UFC history to become a simultaneous two-division champion, joining the likes of Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Cejudo.
“I think I have a good size frame to go up to [featherweight],” Sterling said. “Hopefully, I can still have at least some kind of success at [featherweight]… where I can still work, make money, have fun, have fun fights, not torture myself [with a big weight cut] and I can be a little bit more active.”
The Volkanovski and Rodríguez title unification bout is reportedly scheduled to take place on July 8 at UFC 290.
Winning two UFC titles is a rare feat in the MMA world. Sterling’s quest for a pair of UFC titles is fueled by his desire to prove the doubters wrong and becoming an all-time great in MMA, regardless of weight class.
