Sean O'Malley believes Aljamain Sterling is lying about bicep injury to delay Henry Cejudo fight
Sean O'Malley and his coach, Tim Welch, recently speculated on the extent of Aljamain Sterling's bicep injury after footage emerged of him holding pads for teammate Merab Dvalishvili.
'Funk Master' is expected to face Henry Cejudo next following his victory over T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 last October. The bout was rumored to be taking place within the first quarter of this year, but Sterling announced he would need surgery on a torn bicep and the fight was delayed.
However, 'Sugar' believes that the UFC bantamweight champion could be delaying the Cejudo fight for other reasons and using his bicep injury as an excuse. Welch, who previously tore his bicep tendon, stated that it was impossible for 'Funk Master' to hold pads for a fighter if he has injured the muscle.
He said:
"Aljo [Sterling] was in the cage holding [Muay] Thai pads for Merab. And Thai pads are the worst. Some one kicks you powerfully, it just jams your bicep tendons and everything. It cannot be that bad if you're holding pads."
Sean O'Malley followed up by saying:
"I wonder if he's using that to kind of just be able to chill, like, 'I'm injured, I'm injured.' So everyone can't expect him to fight then."
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Footage of Sterling holding pads for Merab Dvalishvili was uploaded to Instagram several days ago.
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It recently emerged that the UFC is targeting the matchup for UFC 287 in April. With Sterling's recovery timeline still unclear, the promotion is yet to make the bout official.
Sean O'Malley weighs in on Alexander Volkanovski vs. Islam Makhachev
Sean O'Malley believes that Alexander Volkanovski could be the man to defeat the seemingly unstoppable force of Islam Makhachev. 'Sugar' recently weighed in on the UFC 284 main event, which takes place next weekend, during episode 94 of the BrOMalley podcast.
Volkanovski is currently the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and aims to achieve double-champ status with a victory over Islam Makhachev. But some believe that the size and strength of the lightweight champion will be too much for 'The Great' to handle.
Makhachev is the No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and is looking to take over Volkanovski's title as the 'P4P King'.
Sean O'Malley broke down the matchup and said this:
"He's mastered his style, he's shorter, he's compact, is he gonna be able to get taken down and held down? You would assume yes, if you watch Islam's fights. But I think if anyone can do it... it's Alexander Volkanovski."
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