UFC 292 Sterling vs. O’Malley: Live outcomes and analysis

BOSTON– Aljamain Sterling‘s swan tune at bantamweight might be Sean O’Malley‘s crowning minute and the birth of a brand-new UFC super star. Sterling will safeguard his UFC bantamweight title versus O’Malley in the primary occasion of UFC 292 on Saturday at TD Garden.

The match is abundant with stories. Sterling had actually shown he will go up to featherweight after this bout, win or lose. If he wins, he puts himself amongst the very best 135-pound fighters in the sport’s history. If O’Malley wins, he goes from being a fan preferred to a possible leading draw for the UFC.

ESPN ranks Sterling No. 7 on its pound-for-pound mixed martial arts list. At bantamweight, he is ranked No. 1 and O’Malley is No. 4.

Sterling (23-3) has actually won 9 battles in a row, the longest winning streak ever in the UFC bantamweight department. The New york city local has 3 effective title defenses, connected for the most in department history. A win Saturday would put him ahead of both Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw, who each had 3 title defenses over 2 reigns. Sterling, 34, has actually not lost in 6 years and has actually been champion given that 2021.

O’Malley (16-1, 1 NC) is unbeaten in 5 directly. The Montana-born fighter who combats out of Arizona is 8-1 (1 NC) in the UFC. O’Malley, 28, has simply one profession loss– versus Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 252 in August 2020– though he does not consider it a defeat since he suffered a leg injury throughout the bout. O’Malley is coming off a win over previous champ Petr Yan at UFC 280 last October.

In the co-main occasion, Zhang Weili safeguards her UFC ladies’s strawweight title versus Amanda Lemos Zhang (23-3), a two-time champ, is coming off back-to-back surfaces of previous champs Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk The 34-year-old China local has 2 losses, both to Rose Namajunas, in her UFC profession. Lemos (13-2-1), a 36-year-old Brazilian, has actually won 2 in a row by means of surface and has actually stopped 5 of her 7 triumphes in the Octagon.

Follow along as Marc Raimondi, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim summarize all the action or see the battles survive on ESPN+ PPV.