"Frustrated comes before tired for sure with O'Malley" - Dan Hardy breaks down how Aljamain Sterling can 'manhandle' Sean O'Malley
Aljamain Sterling is ready to defend his bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 this weekend.
Former title challenger Dan Hardy, while breaking down the fight on his show The War Room on YouTube, added his two cents on their upcoming bout:
"I'm thinking Aljamain Sterling is going to look at Sean O'Malley's body from a jiu-jitsu wrestling perspective and think, 'I'm gonna be able to manhandle him, I'm gonna be able to stay on him until I can slow him down and keep mat returning until Sean O'Malley starts to get frustrated or tired,' which I think frustrated comes before tired for sure with O'Malley."
Watch the video below (12:21):
Aljamain Sterling is heading into the bout with an impressive nine-fight win streak. He won the bantamweight title at UFC 259 against Petr Yan after the Russian was disqualified for using an illegal knee in the bout.
Sterling became the first fighter to clinch the gold in such an unconventional manner. His recent title defense came against Henry Cejudo in a split-decision victory at UFC 288.
His challenger, Sean O'Malley, is ranked second in the bantamweight division and is poised to have an ultimate showdown against Sterling in the main event of UFC 292 at the TD Garden in Boston.
Dan Hardy has put his weight behind 'Funk Master' in the high-stakes bout as he believes that the champ possesses enough skills to withstand the challenge from O'Malley.
Aljamain Sterling's title bout against Sean O'Malley could be his last fight in the bantamweight division
Aljamain Sterling will finally have a showdown with bantamweight title contender Sean O'Malley at UFC 292. Although confident of getting his hand raised in the fight, Sterling indicated that the bout could be his last in the bantamweight division.
The 135-pound champion plans to step up in weight and dislodge reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. In a conversation with TMZ Sports, 'Funk Master' revealed his future plans by saying:
"I think [it could be my last at 135]. I think I go out there, dominate O'Malley the way I think I'm gonna dominate him, send that naked mole rat back to wherever he's from, the hole he crawled out of." [h/t TMZ]
He added:
"We set our sights on Volkanovski. Go up to 145, cause some terror there. Win the belt, become champ-champ, and then from there, possibly defend the belt one or two times and maybe that's all she wrote for the MMA career."
Watch the video below (4:24):