UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has been looking forward to UFC 292 for a long time. Sean O’Malley’s rise through the 135-pound rankings has been meteoric, but Sterling believes that the younger fighter enjoys a measure of “Dana White privilege,” and plans to punish “Suga Sean” for it.
“I want to smash this guy’s face. I want to smash the ugly mole rat, the naked mole rat that he is. When I take this man down, that naked mole rat is getting smashed. Smashed.
Aljamain Sterling Will Make Sean O’Malley Pay For “Dana White Privilege” At UFC 292
I want him to pay for everything that he said, all the trash talk, everything, all his Dana White privilege. I didn’t have none of that, and I can’t wait to take it out on him.”
Sterling also disagreed with the notion that he had been “forced” to fight in this weekend’s pay-per-view. “I don’t like using the word ‘forced,’ but it was decided before I had an opportunity to discuss my health and things like that.
After I had an opportunity to talk to Hunter and clear the air with everything, they did some good things behind the scenes, which made it more comfortable for me to oblige. And when I look at the positives, it’s my second main event.
It’s against a very, very big name who’s got a lot of Instagram followers that are kids who play Fortnite all day long, so it’s a good opportunity to showcase my skill set to those younger crowds and take all his little fans.
That’s really what it’s all about, it’s a great opportunity.”Sean O’Malley, typically, has not been short on confidence. Accordingly, he is predicting that he will finish Aljamain Sterling. Sterling, on the other hand, expects the same.
“My prediction, second-round TKO. But if he gives me his neck, he’s got that long ‘Daddy Long Neck’ out there, so if he leaves that out there I’m going to strangle his ass.”
Aljamain Sterling has long been nicknamed the “human backpack” for his preternatural ability to find and attack his opponent’s backs. Sterling’s submission game has earned him eight submission victories in his pro career.
Most notable among them was a vicious rear naked choke landed on Cory Sandhagen en route to Sterling’s first title fight against Petr Yan.
Sean O’Malley is primarily a striker, and according to the broad MMA axiom that a very good grappler usually beats a very good striker, most analysts are expecting a Sterling victory.
However, O’Malley showed far more depth to his game in a recent outing against former champ Petr Yan than expected, and may well have a few surprises in store for the “Funkmaster.”
