UFC 292: O’Malley KOs Aljamain Sterling, Weili Humbles Lemos

Sean O’Malley rocked the world last night, beating Aljamain Sterling and becoming the new UFC bantamweight champion. Also, Zhang Weili ruthlessly dominated Amanda Lemos, having one of the most one-sided title performances in years.

O’Malley spectacularly knocked out Sterling, going against odds that heavily favored the former champion. With 51 seconds into the next round, the judge in the ring, Marc Goddard, had to stop the fight, with Sterling being on the mat unsuccessfully trying to protect himself from O’Malley’s punches.

Sean OMalley TKOed Aljo. We got a new champ!! Pretty Good night of fights #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/zin8ij2Iyk

— All Things Combat (@AllRingside) August 20, 2023

It all started when Aljo wanted to send the left straight, but O’Malley perfectly sized his reach, and once the champ fell short of hitting his rival, O’Malley pulled out a super right hand which ended directly on Sterling’s cheek. After falling down to the mat, he tried to get away from Suga, who was all over him, often hitting the rival right in the face. When Goddard saw that there wouldn’t be any chance for Aljo to get away, he had to stop the bout.

“This is just the beginning of the ‘Suga’ era,” O’Malley said following the bout. “I’m running this s— until 2035, baby.”

With 28 years, he has enough time to create a spectacular legacy. With most of the fighters entering their peak after their 30th birthday, O’Malley became a superstar much earlier, being one of the most popular faces in the organization.

For the moment, he has 17 wins and only one loss in his MMA career, and is one of few guys who can sell pay-per-view events regardless of the circumstances. Dana White mentioned that in his post-fight interview.

Aljo’s reign is over. He is widely considered one of the most underserved champions in the UFC and the least loved one. He is 23-4, having nine triumphs before Saturday’s contest. After getting the title due to Petr Yan’s disqualification and the defense, which was all about him passively holding the Russian on the mat without any initiative to attack, Sterling received negative criticism.

His wins over Dillashaw and Cejudo were also shady because the first was injured, and the second was a split decision for which many believed that Cejudo won.

Zhang Weili was more than confident against Amanda Lemos. She dismantled the rival in all aspects of the fight, making this an easy task for the judges, who scored 50-43, 50-44, and 49-45. She demonstrated in the best possible way why UFC ranked her as the top female fighter pound-for-pound.

WHAT A RIGHT HAND BY WEILI 💥 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/Rd6tNneNju

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 20, 2023

Weili had 296 total strikes, while she had 163 significant. On the other side, Lemos had 29 overall and 24 significant. The champ recorded 106 head strikes, with Lemos hitting the target only 19 times.

In other fights, Ian Garry kept his record perfect, 13-0, beating Neil Magny via unanimous decision. He was much better than the veteran, controlling the pace constantly and scoring points.

Da’Mon Blackshear lost to Mario Bautista via unanimous decision, while Marlon Vera, the guy who inflicted the only loss on O’Malley, confidently solved Pedro Munhoz, earning a unanimous decision triumph. Brad Tavares beat Chris Weidman in the middleweight division, while Gerald Meerschaert ended up on the losing side of the split decision against Andre Petroski.