- Aljamain Sterling is positive he could beat Sean O’Malley in rematch
- “Funk Master” comments on the potential title fight between “Suga” and Merab Dvalishvili
Aljamain Sterling is willing to bet everything he has on himself against Sean O’Malley in a rematch.
That was just a bad night
Speaking to Kanpai Media, “Funk Master” credited “Suga” for beating him fair and square during their title fight at UFC 292. However, Aljo also pointed out that he just happened to have a bad night but the loss doesn’t take away anything from his abilities as a fighter. Sterling is confident that he could beat O’Malley if they ever do a rematch and he wouldn’t hesitate to even bet his entire life savings on himself if that happens.
“O’Malley showed up that night. It was an off-night for myself and the better man won that night,” Sterling opened up. “That’s why we say, ‘Any place, anywhere, any time.’ Sometimes it’s your night, sometimes it’s not, and unfortunately for me, it just didn’t go my way.
“I do know if I had a rematch, and as long as he waited from August to fighting ‘Chito’ in March, give me that time to recover and prepare and to cut my weight the proper way. In a rematch, I would bet my life savings on that,” he continued.
Aljo is happy about Merab getting the title shot
Nothing has been made official yet but many are convinced Merab Dvalishvili would be O’Malley’s next challenger. Despite not earning a quick rematch, Sterling said he’s happy that his friend Merab finally got the right crack at the title.
“People are gonna say I’m still salty, I’m like, skills are skills, facts are facts,” Sterling said. “If I sit there and chop the legs down the way I did in the first round, like, yeah, we could sit here and do this all day long, but I think overall, O’Malley’s getting better but I think I’m very good at what I do and he’s very good at what he does. I’m very good at not letting people do what they want to do but, now he gets to fight Merab and I’m happy for my friend to get a chance to become a world champion the same way I gave an opportunity of a lifetime for O’Malley even while I handicapped myself. Finally, he’s giving my boy a fair shake. Giving him a chance to realize a dream.”
Sterling has quickly bounced back at UFC 300 with a decision win over Calvin Kattar. However, many were not pleased by how the former bantamweight champ performed.
As for O’Malley, he plans to move up to featherweight but also acknowledges that he has many options at this point.
