Sterling vs O'Malley

Who won Sterling vs O’Malley?

Sean O’Malley beat Aljamain Sterling by during the main event of UFC 292, on Saturday 19th August 2023 at TD Garden in Boston.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Sean O’Malley.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 135 pounds (9.6 stone or 61.2 KG).

This contest was for the UFC bantamweight championship.

Sterling vs O’Malley stats

Aljamain Sterling stepped into the octagon with a record of 23 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 8 by submission.

Sean O’Malley made his way to the cage with a record of 16 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Aljamain Sterling's 20th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in February 2014.

Aljamain Sterling's UFC record stood at 16-4-0, while Sean O’Malley's came in at 10-1-0.

The stats suggested O'Malley had a massive power advantage over Sterling, boasting a 69% knock out percentage over Sterling's 13%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Sterling had a large advantage over O'Malley, boasting a 35% submission rate over O'Malley's 6%.

Aljamain Sterling was the older man by 5 years, at 34 years old.

O'Malley had a height advantage of 4 inches over Sterling. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.

Sterling was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 9 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 3 years and 10 months earlier than O'Malley, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 37 more professional rounds, 76 to O'Malley's 39.

Sterling vs O’Malley form

Sterling had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 opponent and going to the judges 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on 6th May 2023 by split decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Prudential Center, Newark, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 on 22nd October 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Petr Yan at UFC 273 on 9th April 2022 by split decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, United States.

Before that, he was victorious against Petr Yan at UFC 259 on 6th March 2021 by split decision in the 4th round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had won against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250 on 6th June 2020 by submission in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

O'Malley had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had beaten Marlon Vera at UFC 299 on 9th March 2024 by unanimous decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Kaseya Center, Miami, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 on 19th August 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at TD Garden, Boston.

Going into that contest, he was victorious against Petr Yan at UFC 280 on 22nd October 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Before that, he was victorious against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on 2nd July 2022 by split decision in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

He had won against Raulian Paiva at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Sean O’Malley had been fighting more than Aljamain Sterling.

Going to this contest, Aljamain Sterling had last fought 11 months and 12 days ago, while Sean O’Malley's last outing had been 1 month and 9 days ago.

Sterling's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 10 months and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 17 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.4 rounds on average.

O'Malley's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 4 months and 7 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 20 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Sterling vs O’Malley?

Aljamain Sterling was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Sean O’Malley made his way into the ring at 7/4 (+180) with oddsmakers.