Sean O'Malley didn’t find Aljamain Sterling’s featherweight debut too entertaining.
Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) scored a shutout of Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at UFC 300, where he stifled him with his grappling. The former bantamweight champion, who lost his title to O’Malley by knockout, showed that his power translated well to 145 pounds.
Bantamweight champion O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) took a shot at Sterling’s performance.
“‘Aljo’ looked good – he made Calvin look bad,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I think it was three times, three different times, the crowd was booing. (Sterling was) just taking him down, holding him down and just holding him there, which, I mean, that’s just his style. You know, I saved the bantamweight division – that’s what I was about to say.”
However, O’Malley acknowledged that big things are on the horizon for Sterling, who called out Brian Ortega after his win. Sterling also mentioned Movsar Evloev, who reciprocated the interest.
O’Malley agrees with that idea.
“But who do you go next? If you would have went out there and finished Calvin in impressive fashion, then I’m like, ‘Damn, you could get a big fight,'” O’Malley said. “But after that – still, regardless whether people love him or hate him, Aljo is somewhat of a star and he gets a bigger fight after that.
“Calvin is on a three-fight losing streak. He’s a little bit older. You win a boring decision, who do you give Aljo now in the featherweight division? What about Diego Lopes? They’ll probably give him Movsar (Evloev).”
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