Sean O’Malley became the UFC bantamweight champion by defeating Aljamain Sterling. Since then, O’Malley has defended his title once, and the ‘Funkmaster’ has left the division to move up. Almost a year later, potential title contender Umar Nurmagomedov still has questions regarding the UFC 292 main event in Boston.
In the second round, Aljo decided to swing in the most obvious way possible. ‘Suga’ saw it coming from miles away and connected a nasty right hand, which dropped the former champion. Soon, UFC 292 became the crowning night for O’Malley. According to Umar Nurmagomedov, it was weird for Sterling to advance to land the strike mindlessly.
I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how he lost. It’s a big mystical win for me. How, how can it happen.
Umar Nurmagomedov via Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel
Nurmagomedov mentioned that Sterling could have used his wrestling and feints instead of going so direct. According to the Dagestani, there was something fishy about that fight, as Aljo didn’t fight his natural game against O’Malley. Sterling also talked about how he wasn’t fully ready to fight O’Malley given the timeframe, but the UFC persuaded him to fight sooner.
🤔Umar Nurmagomedov can’t understand how Aljamain Sterling lost to Sean O’Malley and believes Merab Dvalishvili will beat him.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how he lost. It’s a big mystical win for me. How, how can it happen”
🎥 @dc_mma ▫️ pic.twitter.com/2ki3iej1No
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 1, 2024
Umar Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, is currently scheduled to fight Cory Sandhagen in his first-ever main event in Abu Dhabi. The winner of the fight could potentially challenge Sean O’Malley for the title. According to Aljamain Sterling, Nurmagomedov has a great chance of securing the next title shot.
Aljamain Sterling predicts Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi
Going into the fight, there are many detractors of Umar Nurmagomedov due to his bantamweight rankings. Being #10 and fighting a potential title contender like Cory Sandhagen is a huge jump. According to Sandhagen, he took the fight because Dana White promised him a title shot if he managed to beat Nurmagomedov this weekend.
Aljamain Sterling previews Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Cory Sandhagen (via Sports Illustrated)
Sandhagen is confident about his skillset and is ready to take the zero out of Nurmagomedov’s undefeated record. On the other hand, with Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, Umar has a huge hype behind him. While talking about the fight, Aljamain Sterling believes that Sandhagen will be tested on the ground throughout the fight.
Has Cory Sandhagen done enough work where he’s gonna be able to avoid the takedowns of Umar [Nurmagomedov] and start to touch him up?…And I think if Cory can continue to do that throughout the fight, I think he has a very good chance of getting the upset…If Umar gets him on the ground, he’s probably gonna cook him a little bit maybe one or two rounds and then I think he probably gets a finish.
Aljamain Sterling via The MMA Hour Show
The ‘Sandman’ is currently on a three-fight win streak where he dominated most of his opponents. The former title challenger aims to exploit Nurmagomedov’s cardio and take the fight as deep as possible. It would be interesting to see how the fight will end and who becomes the number one bantamweight contender.
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