Sean O’Malley drills the exact shot that knocked out Aljamain Sterling moments before delivering the final blow in the main event of UFC 292

Sean O’Malley stopped Aljamain Sterling with a right-handed step back at UFC 292
O’Malley was seen delivering the knockout blow before the fight and during camp
With that, O’Malley ended Sterling’s 29-month reign as bantamweight champion.

By George Glinski for Mailonline

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Sean O’Malley drills the exact shot that knocked out Aljamain Sterling moments before delivering the final blow in the main event of UFC 292 Share or comment on this article:

Published: 9:34 a.m. EDT, August 21, 2023 | Update: 9:34 a.m. EDT, August 21, 2023

Footage has emerged of Sean O’Malley drilling the exact blow with which he knocked out Aljamain Sterling on Saturday to snatch 135 pounds of gold.

O’Malley stopped Sterling in the second round of their main attraction at UFC 292 in front of a large crowd at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

After a wary open, O’Malley caught Sterling with a medium right handed step back that the former bantamweight champion would not recover from.

Creating space with his feet and firing the shot over his opponent’s lazy lead shot, the punch was a thing of beauty – and the result of hours of careful tuning.

“Back hitting is a skill not many people have and I can hit back and I knew he was going to put pressure on me and I know he likes to throw to shoot,” O’Malley said during his talk. post-fight press release. .

Sean O’Malley stopped Aljamain Sterling in the second round to snatch the UFC bantamweight title

“He likes to throw for me to counter so he can shoot under. So I knew he was going to rush in with shots.

“It wasn’t even really a bad punch he threw, it’s just that I’m as accurate as f******. I shot him.

‘I’ve been saying all week, I’m a sniper. I’m going to chop his chin off. I will find it and we were there. It’s definitely a punch I’ve been visualizing all week.

O’Malley’s win marks the end of Sterling’s two-and-a-half-year reign as bantamweight champion.

Before the fight, ‘Aljo’ had indicated that he would move up to featherweight due to the stress of cutting down to 135 pounds.

Therefore, a rematch is unlikely to be called. Instead, a fight with Sterling’s teammate and No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili seems like the more likely option.

Dvalishvili was waiting for Sterling to drop out of the division before challenging for the belt and now looks to be next in line for a world title shot.

O’Malley is expected to defend his belt against Sterling teammate Merab Dvalishvili next