UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has some choice words for the self-declared “future champ” Sean O’Malley. O’Malley stirred controversy when he claimed that Sterling’s upcoming title defense – a rematch against Petr Yan – wasn’t enough to headline a pay-per-view event on its own.
The champ, in a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, fired back, pointing out that O’Malley has never even headlined a UFC event.
Sterling Fires Back at Sean O’Malley: “a lot of bark and no bite”
“O’Malley’s going to do what O’Malley does, which is just talk. He talks a big game, but we come to find out that he’s a lot of talk, a lot of bark and no bite. The last time he tried to bite off more than he can chew, what happened? He did the broke leg dance.
I don’t know what he’s on, and again, I know that was a kick that could have never had that impact, but it did. And guess what, you had your shot, and you blew it. We all get opportunities, you had an opportunity, and you blew it.”
Sterling went on to point out that his road to the bantamweight belt was nowhere near as smooth as O’Malley’s early ride in the UFC has been.
“The UFC didn’t give me those opportunities to fight tailor-made matchups when I came up. I fought. My third UFC fight, I fought a guy who was ranked sixth in the world in Takeya Mizugaki, and ever since then, I have not left the UFC’s top 10 of ranked contenders and guys that were within the top 10 and top five.”
Besides which, says Sterling, it’s rare for a single fight to sell an entire UFC card. “I think that’s pretty black and white. You can’t just rely on one fight.
I don’t know a lot of people who will pay $70 just to watch one fight. I want to watch good fights. I don’t just want to just watch one fight. When it comes to boxing, they just have Canelo [Alvarez] versus whoever. I’m paying to pretty much see Canelo, but that’s a big price tag to pay to see one fight, and you can’t justify doing it for that and for this.
It has be a little bit more [about] the metrics. I’m pretty sure that if it was just Sean O’Malley and a bunch of other guys that are up-and-coming and not really any type of notoriety, people aren’t paying $75 to watch Sean O’Malley fight, either. So I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about in that regard.”
Do you think O’Malley is right this time, or is there more to the story? Let us know in the comments.
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit ScreenJuicer for great videos, news, and gameplay!
