"Are you acting again?" - Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling go back and forth on Twitter as 'Suga' eyes a fight against Adrian Yanez in March
Sean O'Malley took to Twitter to suggest that he wanted to fight Adrian Yanez after Yanez beat Davey Grant at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate on Saturday.
However, O'Malley wasn't very clear in expressing his interest as he just tweeted out March with a two-eye emoji. His post caught the attention of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, who asked 'Suga' who he was trying to challenge.
"Who you Trynna fight, champ?"
Who you Trynna fight, champ? 👀 twitter.com/sugaseanmma/st…
It appeared that Sean O'Malley didn't respond to the question for a while, and 'Funk Master' pulled the unranked fighter's leg by jokingly calling him his son.
"@SugaSeanMMA didn’t we teach you that it’s rude not to answer your parents when we speak to you? Wait til I get home," said Sterling.
.@SugaSeanMMA didn’t we teach you that it’s rude not to answer your parents when we speak to you? Wait til I get home 😡
O'Malley immediately hit back at Sterling with a dig of his own. Sterling initially called O'Malley 'champ' and was returned a similar greeting before the tweet battle intensified.
"I’m confused bud. Are you acting again?" responded O'Malley.
@funkmasterMMA I’m confused bud. Are you acting again?
It appears Aljamain Sterling may have missed reading Sean O'Malley's initial reply where he stated he was eyeing a fight against Adrian Yanez in March.
@funkmasterMMA Yanez, champ
Aljamain Sterling is looking to return in March, while Sean O'Malley will fight at UFC 269 this December
Aljamain Sterling became the first titleholder in UFC history to claim the belt via disqualification after former champion Petr Yan executed an illegal knee on him at UFC 259 in March this year.
The duo was set to face off in a rematch at UFC 267 a month ago. However, Sterling pulled out after neck surgery, and Cory Sandhagen was brought in as his replacement.
Yan and Sandhagen fought for the interim title, and the former won the fight via unanimous decision. A unification bout between 'Funk Master' and 'No Mercy' is now set to take place in 2022.
Aljamain Sterling recently confirmed to a fan on social media that the championship contest will be in February or March 2022.
"I was told Feb or March. Just waiting on location," claimed Sterling.
See Aljamain Sterling confirming that he is looking to fight early next year below:
I was told Feb or March. Just waiting on location twitter.com/markermma/stat…
Sean O'Malley is set to face his first ranked opponent in Raulian Paiva at UFC 269. The bantamweight fight will open the main card of the December 11 event, which will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Charles Oliveira and No.1 contender Dustin Poirier.