Athletes
Aljamain Sterling Chasing All-Time Status at UFC 292
Having Already Achieved All He Set Out To, Bantamweight Champ Aljamain Sterling Is Now Focused On Establishing His Case As An All-Time Great
Aljamain Sterling is playing with house money.
Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston, the 34-year-old from Long Island headlines his second consecutive UFC pay-per-view, putting his bantamweight title on the line against popular rising star “Sugar” Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 292.
Order UFC 292: Sterling vs O'Malley
He arrives on a nine-fight winning streak, fresh off a third consecutive victory over a former bantamweight titleholder, and having just established a new record for the most consecutive successful title defenses in the 135-pound weight class.
“I was talking to Al Iaquinta about this: this is all icing on the cake,” began Sterling, recounting a recent conversation with his friend and teammate. “I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish, originally, when I first got into the sport, and now everything is just extra accolades and extra things I can add to the mantle.
“The original goals were to buy myself a house, become UFC champ, and have a million dollars in my savings,” explained the current ruler of the bantamweight ranks, who added “Buy Mom a house” to his personal “To Do” list somewhere along the way, crossing it out during the course of his ascent, as well. “Those were all goals that I wanted to achieve and I did that a couple fights ago.”
With the initial list of accomplishments cleared, Sterling’s focus has now shifted to making himself undeniable as one of the all-time greats in the sport, which might be the most difficult achievement for him to unlock.
From a resume and records standpoint, it’s hard to argue that there have been many better in the history of the UFC bantamweight division.
UFC 292 COUNTDOWN: Full Episode | Sterling vs O'Malley | Zhang vs Lemos | Weidman vs Tavares
In addition to the aforementioned record for consecutive successful title defenses, “The Funkmaster” also has the most wins in bantamweight history (14 and counting) and his nine-fight winning streak stands as the longest ever, as well. He’s 15-3 inside the Octagon, having beaten a host of perennial contenders and the last three men to hold the title before him — Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw and, most recently, former two-division champ Henry Cejudo.
Despite his numerous achievements, there is a segment of the MMA audience that seemingly lives to criticize Sterling. They take umbrage with the way he conducts himself on social media and will do whatever mental gymnastics it takes to “yeah, but…” any and all of his victories, steadfast in their desire to never give the bantamweight standout credit as a world-class talent.
“There are going to be some people out there trying to knock some of the achievements, but — I don’t know if you’ve watched The Fast and the Furious, but ‘it doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile,’ and I think that’s true,” Sterling said with a laugh, addressing his ever-present critics head-on. “I think my resume is nothing short of impressive.
“I find it funny that people find these crutches when it suits their arguments,” he added, speaking about the illogical contortions his detractors will twist themselves into in order to diminish his success. “But I think people should call me “Mr. Beat Your Favorite Fighter” because they’re just mad about that and I’m here to stay.”
He gets the opportunity to knock off one of the popular fighters on the roster this weekend in Boston when he finally steps in with O’Malley, the technicolor title challenger who has been a fan and media darling since his breakout performance on the opening season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
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The matchup has been on the radar for some time and obvious as the next title pairing after both men earned victories at UFC 280 last October in Abu Dhabi — O’Malley edging out Yan by split decision before Sterling stormed through ex-champ Dillashaw.
But when UFC 288 was being put together for Newark, New Jersey back in May, it was Cejudo that was chosen to take on Sterling, with the champion suggesting that Team O’Malley was trying to manipulate the situation to give “Sugar” the best chance to claim championship gold.
“It was pretty convenient for him to sit on the sidelines, wait while two of the best guys go at it, and then asking for either one of us to turn around quickly,” Sterling said of the challenger, who hopped into the Octagon for a face-to-face showdown with the champion following his win over Cejudo. “I think the mindset behind O’Malley and his team was more ‘What’s our easiest path to victory? Maybe we should wait for these guys to fight, and then try to get them to turn around quickly and take advantage of the bruises they’re going to be coming out of the last fight with.’”
Sterling initially bristled at the idea of hustling right back into training camp to face O’Malley just 15 weeks after dispensing with “Triple C,” but it wasn’t because he was looking for time away, even though he’s earned it after three title fights in 13 months.
“The main thing for me was making sure I’m going to be healed up and can go through a proper training camp,” explained Sterling, who dealt with swelling in his legs following his last outing. “People want to make it sound like I wanted a vacation, but it’s not about that.
“I asked for a month longer, but with the way the rest of the cards are planned out, this was the best scenario for me, so it was about changing the mindset and getting the body as close to 100 percent as I possible could, and then ship out to Boston.”
Watch All Free Fights For UFC 292: Sterling vs O'Malley
While he and O’Malley have been bickering with one another every chance they get, the champion swears he doesn’t have any real animosity with the man he’ll share the Octagon with this weekend — it’s more that after taking the long, difficult road to the top of the division, he finds the less daunting path O’Malley has traveled to reach this point a little suspect.
“I don’t have a dire animosity against the guy, but there is something to be said about someone that has had everything handed to him,” began Sterling. “I can’t name two people who are in the UFC that he’s beaten. There’s Petr Yan, and even watching that fight, I go back-and-forth on who I thought won.
“I see “Mr. Fructose” as a formidable opponent. He’s got real skills; I can’t deny that,” continued the champion. “He’s got good footwork, it seems like he’s athletic. He’s pretty scrawny — he doesn’t seem very muscular at all and I would imagine that he doesn’t have a ton of strength, but he’s going to have good leverage.
“But all those gifts that he’s gotten to get here are no longer available — he’s cashed them all in, all those favors, and now he’s going to have to face the music when he steps in there with me on August 19.”
Talking about the matchup, Sterling compared O’Malley’s position to that of current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev last October ahead of his title clash with Charles Oliveira, which was the final bout of the UFC 280 pay-per-view they all competed on in Abu Dhabi.
Makhachev headed into that contest on a 10-fight winning streak, heralded as the heir to the throne his coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, had previously abdicated. His skills were undeniable, but he’d also earned his last two wins over short-notice replacement opponents and sported zero Top 5 or Top 10 wins heading into his clash with Oliveira.
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None of it mattered, as Makhchev sliced through the Brazilian to claim the title, justifying all his advance billing.
Saturday night, Sterling recognizes that O’Malley has a similar opportunity, but he has no intention of allowing their fight to play out in similar fashion.
“For him, it validates him and gives him — it erases all the hype in that ‘Islam Makhachev versus Charles Oliveira’ type situation of hype versus what he’s actually accomplished,” said the champion. “He’s got his opportunity — a great chance to solidify himself as one of the best, and all he has to do is win one fight.
“For me, this is about being who I say I am while going out there and doing it with style points. It’s never easy, but I want it to look that way.”
Aljamain Sterling | Top Finishes
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Aljamain Sterling | Top Finishes
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With the career goals already accomplished, Sterling is more than happy to keep playing with house money this weekend, focused on turning back O’Malley and continuing to elevate himself higher up in the pantheon of all-time greats.
“This is icing on the cake; extra icing, actually,” he said. “Going out there, taking out this guy, making the UFC sugar-free and taking care of the high fructose corn syrup is just another notch in the belt.
“It’s nice to compete again and, for myself, it’s a second main event in a row. I think this is going to be a huge opportunity in terms of viewership, and I think the fans are in for a real show. I’m proud to be headlining it and I can’t wait to go out there and cement my name as one of the greatest of all time.”
UFC 292: Sterling vs O'Malley took place live from TD Garden in Boston on August 19, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
