Reigning Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling was scheduled to take on ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley for the UFC 292 main event. However, the ‘Funkmaster’ was uncertain about his participation in the event suspecting health reasons. Despite this, while speaking about the upcoming highly anticipated bantamweight title fight, Dana White claimed the contrary.
Sean O’Malley is getting ready for a title fight, thus the Funk Master already has a new assignment ahead of him after defeating Henry Cejudo. O’Malley is arguably one of the best fighters in the bantamweight class and many fans have been anticipating this matchup
Aljamain Sterling cautions ‘my body has to agree’ to UFC 292 because of lingering injuries https://t.co/0t800UYmhb pic.twitter.com/pblrNSzSXu
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) May 20, 2023
Dana Whites reaffirms the title “fight is on” despite injury concerns
The UFC 292 main event title battle was discussed by Dana at the UFC Vegas 73 post-fight press conference. Due to Sterling’s health issues, there are concerns about the fight actually taking place. However, UFC President is fairly certain that the bout will go on as scheduled.
“I think we got his manager on the phone and stuff like that, it’s just Aljo’s one of those guys that just can’t get out of his own way. Apparently, he’s in for the fight. Why he said that, who knows? The fight is on. The fight is absolutely, positively on.” Dana said.
Is Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O'Malley actually going to happen at #UFC292 on Aug. 19? 🧐
Full story: https://t.co/T00cQAVnWh pic.twitter.com/8YQq7a5ub6
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 20, 2023
The current bantamweight champion Sterling defeated the former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After the fight, Sean was called out inside the Octagon by Aljo and the two fighters had an early staredown.
How did the Sterling vs O’Malley fight come to be?
Dana White earlier announced that Sugar Sean and The Funk Master would fight on Saturday, August 19, 2023, in Boston’s TD Garden following the post-fight news conference for UFC 288. Sterling is apparently set to defend his title for the fourth time in the main event of UFC 292.
Sean rose to the top of the Bantamweight division by defeating Petr Yan. As far as top contenders go, Merab Dvalishvili would probably be the frontrunner but his refusal to fight Aljamain opened up the spot for other contenders. This is how the ‘Suger’ show got his chance at 135 lb glory against Aljo.
Back. https://t.co/eqsZfkuzSj pic.twitter.com/Tjzi01M15a
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 21, 2023
Do you anticipate that Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley’s bantamweight battle to happen as scheduled? Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comment section.
