Aljamain Sterling Predicts Upset in Potential Sean O’Malley-Marlon Vera Rematch

Aljamain Sterling believes he isn’t getting an immediate rematch against Sean O'Malley, but he thinks O'Malley may not hold the title for long anyway.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king lost his strap to O’Malley by second-round TKO in an upset at UFC 292 in August. Since then, Sterling has since been calling for either an immediate rematch or for his close friend and teammate Merab Dvalishvili to get his own his long overdue title shot. However, O’Malley is plotting his first title defense against Marlon Vera, who handed “Sugar” his lone professional loss back in 2020 and rumors have recently surfaced of a potential booking between O’Malley and “Chito” for UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto.

In a live stream on his YouTube page on Monday, Sterling revealed that he is almost sure of a rematch snub against O’Malley. The 34-year-old “Funkmaster” also believes Vera will pull off an upset against O’Malley, whose knockout power he called into question despite the result of their fight. Sterling doesn’t see Vera rushing into potential fight-ending shots from O’Malley the way he did.



“I’m predicting an upset. Chito’s gonna beat Sean again,” Sterling said. “O’Malley is not a knockout artist… I ran into the shot the same way I did with Marlon Moraes. [If] I don’t run into the shot [and] he hits me with the shot, I’m still standing… He’s not one punching ‘Chito’ unless ‘Chito’ was to run forward the same way I did and get sniped. It’s not happening. ‘Chito’ stands in the same spot and he’s gonna sit there, be patient, walk him down, hands up, throw those long kicks.”