"He's still got a lot of weight to cut" - Sean O'Malley believes the pressure is mounting on Aljamain Sterling ahead of UFC 292
Sean O'Malley is set to take on Aljamain Sterling in an epic clash at UFC 292 in Boston next weekend. The bantamweight title fight will headline the pay-per-view event, and 'Sugar' believes that back-to-back title fights in a short span of time may be wearing Sterling thin.
'Funk Master' defeated Henry Cejudo in a five-round war at UFC 288 in May, and has been forced to make a quick turnaround to face O'Malley.
Aljamain Sterling recently disclosed that Sean O'Malley sent him a DM on Instagram stating that the champion looked nervous during a recent interview.
'Sugar' was asked to expand on his comments towards Sterling during his appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday. O'Malley stated that 'Funk Master' may be feeling the pressure of an impending title fight.
"I just let him know, I said, 'Hey champ you look a little nervous.' When I saw him on the TV," said O'Malley. "Just being honest, you know, this moment might be getting to him a little bit. What was that, 14 or 13 days out from the weigh-ins, I'm sure he's still got a lot of weight to cut. He's dealing with these "injuries", so I thought he looked a little nervous and I thought I'd let him know. And I did."
Watch the video below from 2:50:
Aljamain Sterling cuts an enormous amount of weight to make the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds. 'Funk Master' has previously stated that his fight with Sean O'Malley could be his last at bantamweight, as Sterling has eyes on a title at 145 pounds too.
Sean O'Malley plans to knock Aljamain Sterling out at UFC 292
Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling are set to do battle in the main event of UFC 292 next weekend. The champion will be looking to defend his title for a record fourth consecutive time, whilst O'Malley will hope to claim the belt in front of a packed Boston crowd.
Ahead of his UFC 292 clash, O'Malley appeared on The MMA Hour hosted by Ariel Helwani. 'Sugar' laid out his plans to defeat Aljamain Sterling, and noted that the amount of weight the champion cuts could affect his chin on fight night.
Sean O'Malley said this:
"I will land this right hand. You go and look at my entire UFC career, how many people...whether I've finished them in the first round or not, I dropped a lot of people in the first round. He's cutting a lot of weight and that plays a role in the shots you can take. So, I plan on going out there and delivering the shots that he can't take." [12:50 onwards in the above video]