Aljamain Sterling will be defending the UFC Bantamweight title at UFC 292 but who is he fighting next?
UFC 292 is just a few days away and the main event sees Aljamain Sterling defend his UFC Bantamweight title.
The 34-year-old Jamaican-American is on an 8-fight winning streak stretching back to 2018. He defeated Brett Johns at that event and has not lost one fight since.
His next opponent, however, could be his toughest. Aljamain Sterling will next fight Sean O’Malley at UFC 292.
O’Malley is one of the hottest properties in the UFC and is undefeated in his last 5 fights. O’Malley’s last fight was against former Champion Petr Yan.
Suga, as O’Malley is known, has a 16-1-1 record, and will be looking to win his first UFC title. There already is a heated rivalry between the pair, and this could be an amazing fight. Sean O’Malley is known for his incredible KOs but Sterling should have the advantage when it comes to wrestling.
Who did Aljamain Sterling win his UFC title from?
Aljamain Sterling won his UFC Bantamweight title in very controversial circumstances. He faced Petr Yan at UFC 259 and won the belt thanks to a disqualification for the then-champion.
The Russian, Yan, was dominating the fight and even had Sterling on the ropes. However, there seemed to be some miscommunication about Sterling being grounded or not.
Since one of Sterling’s knees was touching the mat, Yan wasn’t allowed to knee an opponent. While he was asking his corner for advice, they suggested that kneeing Sterling was fine.
Sterling felt the full force of the knee and was unable to continue. This led to a disqualification for Yan and Sterling became the first UFC Champion to win a belt by DQ.
While some suggested that Sterling made a meal of this incident and could have continued. He more than made amends in the rematch when he put his belt on the line against Yan.
Yan was the interim champion then, but the win went to Sterling via split decision. Sterling then defeated TJ Dillashaw in a title fight and later Henry Cejudo too.
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