Aljamain Sterling successfully defended his bantamweight title on May 7th at UFC 288 against Henry Cejudo in a nail-biting fight that went to the distance. Funkmaster won that fight via split decision and as soon as that fight was over, bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley came inside the octagon and challenged him for a fight.
Aljamain Sterling will defend his bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley on August 19 at UFC 292 in Boston, UFC announced on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/b0fmL3BD1Q
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 16, 2023
The UFC went forward with the altercation and announced a few days after the PPV that Sterling will indeed defend his belt against Suga Sean at the UFC 292 PPV in August. Fans across social media were excited after hearing this news as the 135-pound division is quite stacked and the new matchup seemingly lived up to the expectations.
Dana White hints at Henry Cejudo vs Sean O’Malley if Aljamain pulls out
Following the announcement of the bantamweight title fight scheduled to take place at UFC 292, Aljamain Sterling came out on social media and claimed that he has only verbally agreed to fight in August. He said that his body is banged up from his fight against Henry Cejudo and is unsure whether it heals up before starting his training camp.
At the recently concluded UFC Vegas 73 event, one of the interviewers addressed the issue and questioned Dana White whether the fight will happen at UFC 292. The UFC President confirmed that this title fight will absolutely take place. He also clarified that he has no idea what’s going on in Sterling’s head.
"Do you want me to explain what's going on in the mind of f*cking Aljo?"
Despite Aljamain Sterling revealing concerns about being banged up after the Henry Cejudo fight, Dana White says the fight against Sean O'Malley is on for #UFC292.
More: https://t.co/z2bvTLZrU3 pic.twitter.com/uaauJfAS0V
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 21, 2023
Dana also revealed during this press conference that Henry Cejudo called him to say that he is ready to replace Aljo and fight O’Malley at UFC 292. “Henry Cejudo calls me and says, ‘This little p*ssy doesn’t want to fight, I’ll take the fight. I’m throwing my hat in right now. Let’s do it, I’ll fight O’Malley.”
Is O’Malley the right matchup for Henry Cejudo after losing to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288?
Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo fell short in reclaiming the bantamweight gold against Aljamain Sterling in his return bout to the UFC after a three-year hiatus. However, Triple C looks far from over as he wants a quick turnaround and subsequently, he has asked UFC President Dana White to allow him to be the backup fighter for the UFC 292 title fight.
But the likelihood of him replacing any of the two fighters seems very low as both the bantamweights have verbally agreed to a fight and Sterling would not like to relinquish his belt. With that being said, there are quite a few possible matchups for Henry on the table.
Triple C has called out Sterling’s training partner Merab Dvalishvili for a fight as he is amongst the top 3 fighters in the bantamweight division. This fight makes sense because Merab has already declared that he won’t be fighting Aljo.
Henry Cejudo is one of the best in the business and a win over him will solidify Merab’s chances to fight for the title whenever Sterling leaves the division or loses the belt against another contender.
