Aljamain Sterling believes Ricky Simon's recent win over Raphael Assuncao should have him ranked higher than Sean O'Malley
Aljamain Sterling has suggested that Ricky Simon’s win in his most recent fight should’ve ensured that he (Simon) is ranked higher than Sean O’Malley.
Ricky Simon fought on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus on December 18th and secured a spectacular second-round KO victory over veteran UFC bantamweight Raphael Assuncao. Meanwhile, Sean O’Malley last fought at UFC 269 on December 11th, defeating Raulian Paiva via first-round TKO.
At the time of the aforementioned fights, Assuncao was ranked in the UFC bantamweight division’s top-15 whereas Paiva was not. Furthermore, the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings show that Sean O’Malley is ranked No. 12 and Ricky Simon holds the No. 13 spot.
Ricky Simon, who recently called out Sean O'Malley, posted a tweet regarding his rank and indicated that he disapproved of O’Malley being above him.
Simon’s tweet read as follows:
“Someone is messing with me”
Someone is messing with me 😂🧂 https://t.co/QRO6wDLVvH
Additionally, reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling posted a sarcastic tweet and insinuated that O’Malley shouldn’t be ranked higher than Simon.
Sterling’s tweet read as follows:
“That Paiva win was bigger than the Assuncao win- BRILLIANT!”
That Paiva win was bigger than the Assuncao win- BRILLIANT! 😂🤦🏾♂️ twitter.com/rickysimonufc/…
Sean O’Malley feels Aljamain Sterling is “the real deal” but foresees Petr Yan winning their rematch
Aljamain Sterling captured the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 259 in March this year. 'Funk Master' dethroned then champion Petr Yan via DQ (Disqualification) due to an illegal knee strike that 'No Mercy' landed in the fourth round which led to the end of the bout.
While Aljamain Sterling managed to become the new 135-pound champion, the manner in which their fight ended resulted in the UFC booking an immediate rematch between them. Sterling was expected to face Yan in a rematch at UFC 267 in October but pulled out of the fight due to lingering neck issues.
Petr Yan then went on to face replacement opponent Cory Sandhagen for the interim UFC bantamweight title at UFC 267. Yan beat Sandhagen via unanimous decision and won the interim belt in the process. 'No Mercy' is expected to face Aljamain Sterling in a title unification matchup in 2022.
On that note, fan-favorite KO artist and UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley chimed in with his take on the rematch. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, O’Malley predicted that Yan would emerge as the victor in the rematch.
Nevertheless, ‘Suga’ also indicated that while Yan is the favorite heading into their rematch, Aljamain Sterling is “legit” and “the real deal". O’Malley said:
"He's [Sterling] not going to be able to outwrestle him [Yan] and just do that so. I'm gonna go with Petr but Aljo, he's legit, he's the real deal, he's the champ, #1 spot, whatever, he's up there."