Top UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley has been told he is a "knock-off wannabe" version of Conor McGregor.
O'Malley, 28, has become one of the UFC's biggest stars since debuting for the promotion in 2017. 'Suga' is expected to meet current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August although the title fight is yet to be officially announced by the promotion as Sterling is recovering from a leg and bicep injury.
In his YouTube video titled 'Sean thinks he's the next Conor McGregor but he's not', Sterling hit out at his future opponent by saying: "We just haven’t quite seen this magic knockout from wannabe knock-off McGregor. That was the trajectory that he was on, but for some reason it’s just like people just don’t got the formula or the juice to be Conor.”
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“Anytime this man has stepped in there with a shark in the deep end, he’s been chewed up for the most part, every single time. Maybe not say chewed up, actually. Against Chito, [Marlon Vera] he got flattened. You ever see a domino? How you topple it over and it just falls? That was him. He lost, he stepped in there and didn't get his hand raised."
Sterling defended his title against former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo earlier this month whilst O'Malley hasn't fought since winning a controversial decision against Petr Yan last October. Sterling faced off with O'Malley in the octagon just moments after his win against Cejudo as the pair had to be separated by security.
O'Malley's coach has predicted that Sterling will be put "to sleep" by his fighter later this year, as he said on The MMA Hour: "Sean's reactions time are so good that you can't make a mistake striking against him. Look at Petr Yan, how high his guard is and how sharp a striker he was. Sean was able to find his chin and drop him.
"I definitely think that Aljo is the most dangerous bantamweight in the division, but I think Sean is going to crack him. He makes a lot of mistakes, you see dropping his hands and dipping his head. I think he is going to hurt and wobble him. Aljo will then take a s****y shot and Sean will probably put him to sleep one way or another."
