T.J. Dillashaw doesn’t see Sean O'Malley beating Aljamain Sterling – even though he wants it to happen.
Bantamweight champion Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) defends his title against O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the UFC 292 main event on Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston.
Dillashaw was dominated and stopped in the second round by Sterling in their title fight at UFC 280 in October – a fight where Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder early. He sees Sterling’s grappling being too much for O’Malley.
“I underestimated O’Malley when he fought Yan and things like that, but what Sterling is so good at is O’Malley’s biggest weakness,” Dillashaw said on the JAXXON PODCAST with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. “I’m rooting for O’Malley just because he’s a good character for the sport, he’s great for the weight class.
“I’ve interacted with him actually, I like the guy, but Sterling is just too good. His pressure is going to be there to get the takedown, he’s for sure going to get the takedown, and he’s going to get the back. He’ll end up submitting him.”
It wasn’t all compliments from Dillashaw, who insists Sterling’s striking is not up to par.
“He’s a good wrestler, but he’s so desperate for the takedown because his striking sucks so bad,” Dillashaw continued. “I can tell that he’s been scared a lot. He’s gotten better at it, but he’s always been so scared that he’s like desperate. So, he’ll do whatever he can to get the takedown.
“He’ll shoot three, four times, you’ll stuff all of them, eventually he’ll get it. Where he’s good is he’s really good on the back, he has really good jiu-jitsu, and he’s strong. I felt him, even though I had one arm, I could still feel his pressure and how strong he was.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
