UFC president, Dana White admits he made a mistake by allowing Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling to faceoff at UFC 288.
After Sterling beat Henry Cejudo by split decision to defend his bantamweight title he took aim at O’Malley who was in attendance and will be getting the next shot. Following the callout, O’Malley entered the Octagon and had a faceoff with Sterling, and then all hell broke loose.
Sean O’Malley took his jacket off and Merab Dvalishvili grabbed it and put it on and after ‘Suga’ and Sterling had some words, O’Malley wasn’t pleased with Dvalishvili. After those two had some words, O’Malley was finally let out of the Octagon, and looking back on it, Dana White admits it wasn’t a good idea to have ‘Suga’ enter the cage.
“I’ve had better ideas than what I did tonight,” White said at the UFC 288 post-fight press conference. “Not a great idea but yes, [Sean O’Malley is] next. It was a bad idea [to bring him in the cage].”
Dana White reveals timeline for Sterling-O’Malley
Although Dana White thinks it was a bad idea, there is no question that it will add some hype and intrigue to their upcoming fight. Sean O’Malley fighting for the title is already massive and according to White, he revealed the title fight against Sterling will likely take place at UFC 292 on August 19 in Boston.
“Yeah, probably August,” White said.
If Sterling does defend his title against O’Malley in August, it would be a fairly quick turnaround for him. Yet, in the Octagon, Sterling was adamant about the fight taking place in September in Las Vegas, so perhaps he will try and delay it a month to give him a bit more rest.
But, regardless of when it takes place, the next time Sterling and O’Malley are in the Octagon it will be against one another with the UFC’s bantamweight title on the line.
