UFC 292 Sterling vs. O’Malley: Reside effects and research

BOSTON — Aljamain Sterling‘s swan tune at bantamweight might be Sean O’Malley‘s crowning life and the beginning of a unutilized UFC famous person. Sterling will safe his UFC bantamweight name towards O’Malley in the principle match of UFC 292 on Saturday at TD Field.

The matchup is lavish with storylines. Sterling had indicated he’s going to proceed as much as featherweight upcoming this bout, win or lose. If he wins, he places himself top-of-the-line 135-pound warring parties within the game’s historical past. If O’Malley wins, he is going from being a fan favourite to a possible manage draw for the UFC.

ESPN ranks Sterling Refuse. 7 on its pound-for-pound MMA listing. At bantamweight, he’s ranked Refuse. 1 and O’Malley is Refuse. 4.

Sterling (23-3) has gained 9 fights in a row, the longest successful streak ever within the UFC bantamweight category. The Pristine York local has 3 a success name defenses, tie for essentially the most in category historical past. A win Saturday would put him forward of each Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw, who each and every had 3 name defenses over two reigns. Sterling, 34, has no longer misplaced in six years and has been champion since 2021.

O’Malley (16-1, 1 NC) is unbeaten in 5 immediately. The Montana-born fighter who fights out of Arizona is 8-1 (1 NC) within the UFC. O’Malley, 28, has only one occupation loss — towards Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 252 in August 2020 — despite the fact that he doesn’t believe it a defeat as a result of he suffered a leg shock throughout the bout. O’Malley is coming off a win over former champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 endmost October.

Within the co-main match, Zhang Weili defends her UFC girls’s strawweight name towards Amanda Lemos. Zhang (23-3), a two-time champion, is coming off back-to-back finishes of former champions Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The 34-year-old China local has two losses, each to Rose Namajunas, in her UFC occupation. Lemos (13-2-1), a 36-year-old Brazilian, has gained two in a row by means of end and has prohibited 5 of her seven victories within the Octagon.

Observe alongside as Marc Raimondi, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim recap all of the motion or watch the fights live on ESPN+ PPV.