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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
The UFC’s bantamweight division got a fresh coat of paint Saturday night — in a shade of pink.
Sean O’Malley, the cotton-candy-haired, face-tattooed Gen Z striker, knocked out Aljamain Sterling to win the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 292 in Boston, signaling a new era in the weight class. The “Suga” era, to be exact.
While O’Malley might rub older MMA purists the wrong way with his sarcastic trash talk and flamboyant fashion, there’s no more doubting his abilities. He landed a gorgeous pullback right-hand counter to fell Sterling, as slick a technique as it gets on the feet at that level. And he proved what many already believed with the numbers UFC 292 generated: O’Malley is a bona fide star, perhaps one of the biggest in the UFC right now after this weekend.
So, what’s next for the pastel power puncher and his peers in one of the UFC’s most exciting divisions? Let’s look at potential first title defenses, the possibility of a boxing crossover fight and who else could emerge as a contender at 135 pounds.
What does O’Malley bring to the table as champion?
He’s the biggest star the UFC has ever had at bantamweight. He could be to bantamweight what Conor McGregor was to featherweight. It’s not that there weren’t good fighters before O’Malley — some might have been even better. But no one has been able to put butts in the seats like O’Malley, and if you’re the UFC, you probably have your fingers crossed for a lengthy “Suga” reign.
UFC president Dana White reported that UFC 292 featured the biggest pay-per-view bantamweight main event in promotion history. The gate for the card at TD Garden in Boston was $7.25 million. Those are impressive numbers, and White credited O’Malley for them. “Suga” did get a star’s reaction the entire week, from the news conference to the weigh-ins to fight night. There was no doubt who the fans were reacting to the most in Boston.
The UFC even did something it hasn’t done in many years following UFC 292. The promotion posted O’Malley’s TKO finish of Sterling in full on social media and YouTube. The UFC knows O’Malley’s audience: Gen Zers and millennials who are very online. Undoubtedly, the idea was to capitalize on O’Malley’s exploding popularity by blasting out the dramatic highlight to everyone who wanted to see it. Smart move. The video on the UFC’s YouTube page had 6.1 million views as of Monday morning — that’s just over 24 hours since the fight took place and makes it already one of the top three most watched videos published on that page in the past year.
Who is the most worthy first title challenger for O’Malley?
Before this question is answered, let’s keep in mind that most worthy does not necessarily mean most likely to get the fight. Many factors can determine who gets title shots in the UFC, including what matchup can make the most money and timing. On paper, no one has done more than Merab Dvalishvili, Sterling’s teammate. He has won nine in a row, including eight straight in the bantamweight division, which is one off Sterling’s record of nine. Dvalishvili has beaten former UFC champions Petr Yan and Jose Aldo in back-to-back fights, both in relatively comprehensive performances.
Dvalishvili should be fully recovered from surgery on his right hand by this fall, so he’d be ready for O’Malley’s next availability. He even tweeted Sunday that he wants that first O’Malley title defense if Sterling does not get a rematch. O’Malley quickly shut down Sterling getting an immediate rematch at his postfight news conference Saturday, so that seems out.
After beating Sterling, O’Malley called out Marlon “Chito” Vera in the Octagon. Vera is the only man to beat O’Malley in the cage, even if O’Malley says the “Suga State Athletic Commission” has overturned that loss. You wouldn’t blame him for wanting to get that one back, and Vera is surely an elite bantamweight, coming off a win at UFC 292 against Pedro Munhoz. However, O’Malley was not as enthusiastic about “Chito” in his postfight news conference.
The only other option that makes sense at this juncture would be Cory Sandhagen, who has beaten Vera. But Sandhagen said last week that he’d be out six months with an elbow injury. The UFC would want O’Malley back before then. But O’Malley is dealing with a muscle strain below his ribs, and the UFC has a busy slate over the next few months. So, you never know. Names like former champion Henry Cejudo and Yan are likely further down the list and will need a win to get back near the front of the pecking order.
What fighter is set to emerge as a contender before the end of 2023?
If this question had been asked a few weeks ago, an easy answer would have been Umar Nurmagomedov. He was supposed to fight Sandhagen at UFC Nashville earlier this month, and that could have been the coming-out party for the cousin of Khabib. But Nurmagomedov sustained a significant shoulder injury that will keep him on the shelf for quite a while. Don’t expect to see him back until spring 2024 or so. That’s a bummer, because adding him into one of the most exciting tops of a division in the UFC would have produced even more fireworks.
Jonathan Martinez is a candidate for breaking through. He has won five straight and has a big fight against Adrian Yanez coming Oct. 14. Martinez is only 29 years old and has a great team behind him in Marc Montoya’s Factory X. A little deeper down the pecking order, two athletes fighting out of Arizona, Kyler Phillips and Mario Bautista, have shown promise. It might take longer than a year, but keep an eye on Javid Basharat and Rinya Nakamura, too. He’s been around longer than most of the above, but Song Yadong is still only 25 years old and could be only a couple of big wins away from a title shot.
What does the next year look like at bantamweight?
O’Malley will defend the title, probably sometime in the winter or early spring of 2024. He said December at first, and while that seemed like an excellent idea, the UFC has other plans right now for that card, which would be UFC 296. (No, it’s likely not Conor McGregor.) Things could always change, but don’t expect to see O’Malley until sometime next year. He could be part of UFC 300, which the promotion will surely stack to the max. Vera and Sandhagen are the most likely title-defense candidates, though Cejudo, a former double champion, could sneak in there if he beats someone like Dvalishvili before the end of the year. Right now, UFC 300 could fall in March or April.
One thing that likely is not in the cards for O’Malley is that boxing match against Gervonta “Tank” Davis he talked about Saturday night at his news conference. That seems premature at the most generous and absurd if we’re being realistic. O’Malley should probably string some title defenses together as champion in the UFC before trying for a crazy, crossover boxing match. But as he said, maybe we shouldn’t underestimate his star power and talent in their ability to make things happen.
Yan, Song and Vera could fight again before O’Malley returns to the Octagon. O’Malley beat Yan last October, but it was a controversial decision, and many felt Yan won the fight. That’s certainly a fight many wouldn’t mind seeing again, this time with the title on the line.
Font and Munhoz find themselves on the outside looking in regarding the contender picture, and they’re both 36 years old. Dominick Cruz, the former two-time champion, is still around, too. But he’s 38 and coming off a brutal knockout loss to Vera. Don’t be shocked if former two-time champion TJ Dillashaw comes out of retirement sometime in the next 12 months, too. Dillashaw owns a win over Sandhagen, and he lost to Sterling last year with a severely compromised shoulder.
Cruz, Dillashaw and Sterling are the three most accomplished fighters in UFC bantamweight history. Speaking of the most recent former champion, that brings us to our final question.
Where does Sterling go from here?
Before he lost to O’Malley, Sterling said he would move up to featherweight regardless of the result of the UFC 292 main event. He should stick to that plan. Sterling wants that loss to O’Malley back, of course. In his postfight news conference, he said that an immediate rematch is his top preference. But it’s the right time for Sterling to move on. He’s 34 years old and has accomplished everything at bantamweight. The UFC and O’Malley seem ready to move on with the division without him.
That’s OK. Sterling cuts a ton of weight and should be able to readjust his body to 145 pounds. He might not have the reach advantage over opponents he did at 135, but Sterling matches up well with the top five at featherweight. The division has few wrestlers near the top like Sterling. There are some strong grapplers, but it would be interesting to see Sterling in the mix against the likes of Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega, Arnold Allen and Ilia Topuria.