Aljamain Sterling believes Sean O’Malley earned decision win over Petr Yan at UFC 280
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling believes that Sean O’Malley earned his decision win over Petr Yan at UFC 280.
Sterling defeated TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of UFC 280 via second-round TKO. In the fight before that, O’Malley earned a controversial split decision victory over Yan. Many fans believed that Yan did enough to earn the victory in the O’Malley fight, but two of the three judges disagreed, leading to O’Malley winning the split decision.
While most fans and media gave the decision to Yan, the judges didn’t, and as far as Sterling goes, “Sugar” earned his victory. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sterling gave his scorecard for the fight.
“29-28, I gave it to O’Malley. That’s my personal opinion, my take. Don’t think that I’m running from Petr Yan. I think this fight was that close. Either one of these guys I’d fight. It’s a tough fight, regardless, so it doesn’t matter. So if you think that I can fight O’Malley, and it’s going to be that easy, it’s not. If you think I’m gonna just run through him, I’m not. I could. I could, but it doesn’t mean I definitely will,” Sterling said (via MMAjunkie.com).
O’Malley’s victory over Yan puts him in the No. 1 contender position in the UFC bantamweight division. However, it doesn’t mean that he will be next in line to fight for the belt. According to UFC president Dana White, the company is interested in booking Sterling against former champion Henry Cejudo sometime next year. However, that fight is not official yet and there is still a chance that O’Malley could get the title shot. And if that’s the case, then the champion believes that he is worthy of fighting for it.
Do you agree with Aljamain Sterling that Sean O’Malley earned his decision victory over Petr Yan at UFC 280?
