Aljamain Sterling Hits out at UFC Champ Sean O'Malley: 'Stop Ducking the Top Contenders'
Aljamain Sterling has accused UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley of ducking top contenders.
"Funk Master" took to the mic after his Polaris 25 victory on September 30, where he took shots at O'Malley, telling him to "be a man, be a champion" in light of O'Malley's plans to fight Marlon Vera for his first title defense:
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"I got a message for Mr. Sugart***," Sterling said angrily, "...Give me my rematch or fight Merab [Dvalishvili], it's that simple, stop ducking the top contenders and be a man, and be a world champion. Fight the best of the best, that's what I did, and you need to turn around and do the exact same s***, let's go!"
Sterling refers to his teammate Merab Dvalishvili, who currently rides a nine-fight win streak and sits at No.2 in the rankings. Vera is No.6 and coming off of a loss to No. 4 Cory Sandhagen, who is also another viable candidate for "Sugar's" first defense.
Of course Sterling had his own controversial title reign. The American grappler won his title by disqualification in a losing effort to Petr Yan in 2021.
He then won a close split decision in the rematch before taking advantage of an injured T.J. Dillashaw in his second defense. Sterling won a marginal decision against an aged Henry Cejudo returning from a three-year layoff before finally being dethroned by O'Malley in August.
Despite all this, Sterling was as game as they come, and fought any fighter that the UFC placed in front of him. His critique of O'Malley's decision-making comes from a place of frustration, as Dvalishvili is his friend and teammate, and he himself didn't get to pick and choose his opponents as a champion.
Whilst O'Malley's rematch with "Chito" is certainly the most marketable fight that can be made, does that justify overshadowing more deserving opponents like Dvalishvili and Sandhagen?
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