Reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defends his belt against superstar elect Sean O’Malley this weekend in Boston. Sat at the pinnacle of the list of bantamweight champions Sterling could secure top spot with a great performance this weekend.
Aljamain Sterling Aims At Icon
In a recent Q&A in the build up to UFC 292, The champion made some comments towards Johnson mainly regarding his size.
“He’s (Demetrious Johnson) too little, man, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is great, but he’s too little. There’s a reason he why he lost to [Dominick Cruz], it wasn’t a skill deficiency, it’s size.”
“He’s skilled, but I think father time has passed him a little bit. If he wants this work, try to get some revenge for Henry (Cejudo), I can beat your boy, too, So, ‘Mighty Mouse’, where you at?”
Quotes via MMAFighting.com
Aljamain Sterling most recently beat Henry Cejudo, a good friend and former foe of Johnson. Cejudo and Sterling had plenty of bad blood before their bout so this may stem from that rivalry.
Final Fight at 135lbs
Pre fight the champion has announced he will be moving up to 145lbs after UFC 292. He will inevitably be chasing down the pound for pound king Alexander Volkanovski whilst also leaving the 135lbs division open for his close teammate Merab Dvalishvili to stake his claim for gold. If victorious Sterling will leave the division on a 10 fight win streak and with four defences of his belt a feat leaving him amongst the greatest bantamweights of all time. However, if O’Malley upsets the applecart we may see Sterling stick around but that is highly unlikely, with the champion stating it is a 99% he moves up if he loses compared to 100% if he wins.
Interestingly at 145lbs the number one contender seems pretty clear in Ilia Topuria but we are yet to have a date or fight announced for the featherweight gold. Volkanovski is currently recovering from elbow surgery but rumours are that a December title bout would be ideal for the champion as he also aims to move up to compete for the lightweight belt once again. Therefore Sterling may find himself stuck on the sidelines unless he wants to remain active which will mean a top contender fight against the plethora of options at 145lbs.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
