Sean O'Malley is not taking Aljamain Sterling’s health concerns seriously.
The UFC bantamweight champion recently expressed concern about being ready for O’Malley for their expected bout on Aug. 19 at UFC 292 in Boston, given some lingering injuries from his most recent title defense. O’Malley thinks there’s plenty of time for Sterling to get ready and was dismissive of Sterling’s comments.
“He did just fight, but look at Izzy. Motherf*cker fought four times in 12 months,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “You have four months. It was four months from the fight. Take two months off and then train hard for two months. It ain’t f*cking science. … It’s called discipline.”
Sterling defended his belt on May 6, defeating Henry Cejudo in a split decision in the main event of UFC 288. Not long after Sterling’s win, the UFC announced that the champ would return on Aug. 19, giving him 15 weeks to rest and prepare for another title defense.
O’Malley hasn’t fought since October of last year, when he outpointed former champion Petr Yan in a Fight of the Night winning performance.
Sterling said the bout against O’Malley is verbally agreed, but he has yet to sign and make it official. He cited several lingering health issues that could derail those plans.
O’Malley doesn’t like the spirit of Sterling’s comments and believes he should adhere to the UFC’s plans.
“He acts like he calls the shots,” O’Malley said. “I’m listening to the UFC. I’m not acting like I call the shots, either. Dana said August, so I said August. It’s not like I told Dana, ‘Hey, f*cking run it August. I run this sh*t.’ I said, ‘Hey, Uncle Dana.’ I didn’t call him daddy like he said. I said, ‘Hey, Uncle Dana. When do you want me to beat up Aljo?’ And it happened to be August. I don’t know what his point is here. I don’t know what his plan is by even tweeting that.”
