Aljo’s fair in love and war.
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling gave former foe Sean O’Malley a taste of his own medicine at UFC 306 on Saturday. Of course, it wasn’t Sterling who fought O’Malley, but his teammate Merab Dvalishvili, who dominated O’Malley over five rounds to win the title, avenging Sterling in the process.
There’s A Bit Of History Between The Teams – Corner Work At UFC 292
Sterling fought O’Malley last August at UFC 292 with “Suga” victorious by second-round TKO. Many fans were led to believe the finishing sequence started after a shout from O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch telling him, “Aljo, you gotta go!” with the footage being shown on the UFC’s YouTube channel, then panning to Sterling rushing in to a shot from O’Malley that put him down.
“They try to make a a thing out of nothing where he was talking to me throughout the fight and I kinda just laughed about it,” Sterling told Submission Radio. “They took that clip and really twisted everyone’s perception as if he was playing chess, not checkers. It would be one thing if I actually heard that, and I actually followed his actions from his coaching to me. But it was nothing like that.
“For them to try to play up on it, I think they were trying to double down to see if that really worked or not. It clearly didn’t.”
Even so, coach Tim Welch evidently called out to Merab in the opening frame of the fight, telling him he needed to be patient. Dvalishvili visibly reacted, talking to Welch with referee Herb Dean stopping the talk between the two.
“I think they were trying to do the same thing, and it was just funny to see Merab call him out right out of the gate.
Sterling: “I’m Gonna Do The Same Exact Bullsh*t…”
But, nobody told cornerman Sterling he couldn’t say anything to his old rival “Suga” Sean…
“I was very vocal in the corner to Herb [for Welch to stop talking to Dvalishvili] where he kinda, like, waved me off or brushed me off. I’m like, ‘Dude, tell him to shut the fuck up…’ Then, once he kinda did that, I was like, alright, fair game… I’m gonna do the same exact bullsh*t, and, uh, let’s just see how they like it…
“I started telling Sean his laces were untied,” Sterling added. “I was like, Sean, the takedown’s coming. Oh, wait, Sean. Don’t react yet, not yet, not yet…’ So, just playing the game back. Maybe you wanna be a clown in the corner, we could go ahead and be clowns too, you know? But at the end of the day, skills will won the fight, and the better man won. And that’s all that matters.”
The UFC Bantamweight Championship is once again with team Sterling/Dvalishvili, whatever you want to call it with the former champion celebrating Dvalishvili’s title win before his upcoming fight with Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 on Oct. 5, a must-win for Sterling if the 35 year-old wants to become a two-division champion anytime soon.
