- Sean O’Malley extended his record to 17-1-0 and became the new UFC bantamweight champion with a TKO of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.
- O’Malley’s next opponent odds favor a rematch against Chito Vera.
- Oddsmakers are not confident in an immediate rematch versus Sterling, as the “Funk Master” has the third-best odds to face O’Malley.
On Saturday night, Sean “Suga” O’Malley (17-1-0) left no doubts about whom the best bantamweight in the UFC is.
As the new UFC bantamweight champion, after defeating Aljamain Sterling (23-4-0), the odds favor him defending the title against Ecuador’s Marlon “Chito” Vera (21-8-1) in a highly-anticipated rematch. Currently, Vera has even odds to be O’Malley’s next opponent.
Following Vera at +100, Merab Dvalishvili (16-4-0) has the next best odds to take on O’Malley. At +250 odds, Dvalishvili’s implied probability of stepping into the octagon against O’Malley is just 28.6 percent. Conversely, even money suggests that Vera has a 50-50 chance of getting a shot at the bantamweight title.
O’Malley was a sizable underdog to defeat Sterling. He entered the Octagon as a +220 underdog to beat the 34-year-old native of Uniondale, New York. Sterling was the overwhelming betting favorite to win at -260 odds. However, O’Malley fired back at the doubters with a right to Sterling’s face to capture the bantamweight title in the second round of their fight.
Sterling owned a record of 23-3-0 before losing to O’Malley. He was coming off a win over Henry Cejudo via split decision at UFC 288 in May. Sterling might have been on his way to another win before leaving himself to O’Malley’s counter.
Sterling Leading After First Round
O’Malley was not ahead in the fight before he ended things in the first two minutes of Round 2. In fact, all three judges had scored the first round as 10-9 for Sterling. Yet, it was a rather uneventful first round.
Both fighters were primarily focused on positioning and feinting than finishing the bout. It wasn’t until the second round that Sterling started to get more aggressive. However, Sterling’s strategy was too aggressive, as he was leaving himself wide open to a counter from O’Malley.
O’Malley was well aware that Sterling was overextending his punches. He was simply waiting for the perfect moment to lay down a trap. With a vicious right hand, O’Malley connected to send Sterling to the mat and finished the job with a barrage of punches.
Sean O'Malley after learning all three judges scored the first round for Aljamain Sterling: "What'd they score the second round?" 🥶 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/ogdIZtEkaj
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 20, 2023
If O’Malley doesn’t finish Sterling, are we having a different discussion right now? Considering how the judges gave Sterling the nod in the opening round, there is a strong possibility that O’Malley doesn’t do enough to impress the judges.
Winning the fight before the judges have an opportunity to spoil the party is the best policy for any fighter in combat sports. Not everyone was thrilled by Marc Goddard’s stoppage in the second round.
Dvalishvili Slams Decision To Stop Fight
Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili was not impressed by Goddard’s decision to step in. As O’Malley rained punches down on Sterling, Goddard saw enough and awarded the win to the challenger.
Dvalishvili, who is a friend and teammate of Sterling, laid into Goddard on “X” for stopping the fight. If it is up to Dvalishvili, he won’t be in the octagon with Goddard in future fights.
Another Fucking Early Stoppage! I pray that me or my teammates don't have Mark Goddard in the cage again. We are FIGHTERS … let us fight til the end ! #UFC292
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) August 20, 2023
“The Machine” stands to benefit from Sterling losing, though. With a Sterling win, he wouldn’t have been in a position to win the bantamweight title. Now, Dvalishvili can avenge his teammate’s loss in a bout versus O’Malley.
In Dvalishvili’s latest fight, he defeated Petr Yan by unanimous decision. It was Dvalishvili’s ninth straight win, as he has not lost in the octagon since 2018, against Ricky Simon. However, O’Malley is not interested in fighting Dvalishvili for his next match.
O’Malley Demands Rematch Versus Chito Vera
On August 15, 2022, at UFC 252, O’Malley suffered the first and only loss of his career. Vera defeated O’Malley by landing some brutal elbows to force a stoppage in the first round.
Before a potential fight with Dvalishvili, O’Malley wants another shot against Vera. Instead of turning his attention to Sterling’s teammate, his post-fight comments to Joe Rogan were directed squarely at the Ecuadorian.
“I said going into this fight, it only takes one mistake against me. I don’t even know if that was a mistake — I’m just that f*cking good,” stated O’Malley. “This is just the beginning of the “Suga” era. I’m running this sh*t until 2035, baby. Did ‘Chito’ win? Was it boring? Probably. I’ll whoop ‘Chito’s’ a*s in December in Vegas at T-Mobile. Let’s f*cking go!”
Sean O'Malley calls for the Chito Vera rematch in December! 🏆🍬 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/xwL6A8sOXk
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
An ecstatic O’Malley was referring to UFC 296, scheduled for later this year on December 16. The fight card was supposedly going to include Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, but Dana White threw cold water on those plans recently. White is looking at the fight taking place early next year.
That leaves an opening for a big match featuring O’Malley. Since beating “Suga”, Vera has had five wins and two losses. He lost to Jose Aldo in his next fight following the O’Malley win, and then was upset against Cory Sandhagen earlier this year in March.
On Saturday, at UFC 292, Vera got back on track with a win by unanimous decision over Pedro Munhoz. Was it enough to earn a fight against O’Malley for the bantamweight title? Regardless of O’Malley’s next opponent, Dvalishvili will most likely have his chance at the belt in the near future.
