Aljamain Sterling adamant he would beat Sean O’Malley in title rematch: ‘I would bet my life savings on that’
Rekindling his rivalry with undisputed bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley earlier this month, former division titleholder, Aljamain Sterling claims if he was to stand opposite the Montana striker in a rematch, he would beat him – chalking up his loss last year to a bad night at the office.
Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight champion and the sole gold holder in the division to rack up three consecutive successful title defense wins, saw his record-setting reign come to a halt last August at the hands of bitter rival, O’Malley.
Headlining in his second straight fight on the East Coast, Uniondale native, Sterling suffered a second round knockout loss to the Dana White’s Contender Series product, dropping his undisputed bantamweight crown as a result.
And since making a successful switch to the featherweight limit in the form of a unanimous decision shutout win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 last month, Sterling reignited his rivalry with O’Malley last week, labelling him a “sorry-a**” champion amid his war of words with his teammate, Merab Dvalishvili.
Aljamain Sterling confident of beating Sean O’Malley in rematch
Reflecting on his knockout loss to the polarizing O’Malley, Serra-Longo MMA staple, Sterling claimed if were to fight the current titleholder in rematch, he would put his life savings on the table that he would avenge said defeat.
“(Sean) O’Malley showed up that night,” Aljamain Sterling told Kanpai Media. “It was an off night for myself, and the better man won that night. That’s why we say, ‘Any place, anywhere, any time.’ Sometimes it’s your night, sometimes it’s not, and unfortunately for me, it just didn’t go my way.”
“But I do know that if I had a rematch, and as long as he waited from August to fighting ‘Chito’ (Marlon Vera) in March, you give me that time to recover, and prepare and to cut my weight the proper way, in a rematch, I would bet my life savings on that,” Aljamain Sterling explained.
Linked with a return before the end of the year, Sterling has been floated as a potential opponent for Russian contender, Movsar Evloev, with the pair searching for a route to a title fight with incumbent featherweight best, Ilia Topuria.
As for O’Malley, the Montana native is expected to feature once again before the end of the annum, and has been linked heavily in recent weeks with a UFC 306 headlining feature at the Las Vegas Sphere against the above-mentioned, Dvalishvili.
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