‘Suga’ didn’t feel sweet after catching more criticism from Aljamain Sterling.
This would all come after Sean O’Malley spoke out against the ‘drawing power’ behind Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling 2. The rematch was originally set as the co-headliner for UFC 272, with Alex Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 3 as the main event.
However, the featherweight title fight would be scrapped shortly after it was announced. It turns out the co-main event wouldn’t be boosted up to the marquee, instead it’d also be moved to UFC 273, under Volkanovski once again.
O’Malley Responds To Sterling
O’Malley threw some shots at Sterling and Yan, which ‘Funkmaster’ wasn’t funking to. It took him a while but ‘Suga’ would finally catch wind of the champ’s disrespectful comments.
“When I said I’m surprised that Petr and Aljo can’t main event on their own, I was saying that like, I’m genuinely surprised the UFC doesn’t just have them (headline). It’s a main event in the most stacked division in the UFC,” O’Malley said on his podcast. “(Sterling) took that as an offensive comment, which I get. But then he also agreed. He’s like, ‘blah, blah, blah… but he’s right.’
“So I was saying it like, I’m surprised they don’t just main event (UFC 272). They could, 100%.” O’Malley continued. “Would it do crazy numbers? No, but they could be its own main event, that’s what I was saying, and he did not like that. He got offended and started going off. But he also agreed. He’s like, ‘Yeah well, they would have to build a big card around us,’ which means put me on the card. But I get it.”
O’Malley Likes Aljo
Despite throwing some shade at Sterling, O’Malley shows the sympathy towards the controversial champion. It turns out he actually likes him.
“It would be frustrating to be the champ and not be respected as the champ, and the way he won; I get it. I like Aljo, he seems like a good dude… he sounded stumbled.”