Sean O'Malley
Sean O’Malley does not wish to serve as a backup for a potential Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo bout at UFC 288
Both Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo revealed on social media that UFC is finalising a bantamweight title bout between them. Although contracts have not been signed, the 135-pound championship bout is scheduled for May 6. On that date, UFC has not officially confirmed an event, although it is likely to be a UFC 288 pay-per-view at an undetermined site.
This means that the top-ranked contender, Sean O’Malley, may serve as a backup if the match falls apart. Nevertheless, “Sugar” has other plans.
Sean O’Malley is hesitant to serve as the backup in the forthcoming UFC bantamweight championship contest between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. Despite Sterling vs. Cejudo being all but confirmed for UFC 288, ‘Triple C’ advised O’Malley to stay ready and prepared in the event that the ‘Funk Master’ pulls out of their bout. Cejudo wants ‘Suga’ on standby because the reigning champion has been dealing with a bicep injury. Speaking on the BrOMalley show, he stated:
“This leaves me in a little position. You know, do I want to be a backup fighter? I could be technically, if I wanted to be for this amount of money. Do I need that amount of money? Not really. I’m rich as fu*k, weird flex, no, I’m kidding. But it’s just like, weight cuts are hard, dude. They’re very… I mean, I’m almost thinking right now, we’re so far out, it’s still tricky to say. I might just do a full fight camp, pretty much spar, diet, get to fight week, and then decide.”
UFC actually made an offer to O’Malley to be their backup fighter for the potential clash. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the former Contender Series fighter turned down the offer but indicated he would launch a camp regardless if either Sterling or Cejudo pulled out.
“I feel I’ll be in shape and ready if it happens. I’ll officially go into camp and will be sparring in the next couple weeks. I’ll pretty much do a full camp, just without a weight cut at the end. I do think they’ll both make the fight, but Aljo has that biceps injury and he’ll be grappling a lot for this fight, so I’ll be ready.”
Judging is one of the most debatable and controversial components of mixed martial arts. Scorecards can be just as perplexing for fans as they are for seasoned fighters. Unfortunate as it may be, judging is not an exact science. Several UFC fights over the years have been the victim of poor judging and several fighters have been at the receiving end of a poor decision.
Reviewing the judgement criteria reveals that the judges have a lot to consider. This also implies that judges have a lot to remember and understand, and that some of the criteria are unclear. Rarely do we hear a viable alternative to the current system, despite the fact that this system is frequently criticized.
Regardless of the judging system in place, flaws will always exist. The secret is to limit these issues as much as feasible. The athletic commissions deserve credit for making positive adjustments to the scoring system, but both the mechanism and the quality of judging still require improvement.
With all that in mind, top-ranked bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley has offered his take on how to fix scoring in MMA. Speaking in an episode of Bromalley, ‘Sugar’ said,
“A lot of people are saying add two more, at least have five judges would help a lot. I’m saying that would help a lot, and the caliber of judges. There is some good judges out there. Whoever scored my fight (with Yan), they’re good judges. I’m not even being biased, technically they are good judges. If you look at the fight, I did win, so they got it right.”
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