Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier think Sean O'Malley’s UFC 292 title win speaks to how stacked bantamweight is.
O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) dethroned bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) with a second-round TKO finish in this past Saturday’s headliner at TD Garden.
With Sterling defending his title against Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw, and Henry Cejudo, not too many people gave O’Malley a chance. O’Malley shook up the division, but already has plenty of hungry contenders waiting for their shot.
“What a division. I mean this division is just a murderer’s row,” Rogan said post-fight on ESPN. “It really really is. I believe Aljo’s probably going to stay in the division and try to get a rematch, but who knows, because you’ve got Merab (Dvalishvili) there, who’s his teammate and (Marlon) ‘Chito’ Vera (possibly) fighting for the title. Petr Yan lost a very close decision loss to Sean O’Malley – he’s still in the hunt. (There are) very, very intriguing fights for the champion.”
Cormier echoed Rogan’s same sentiment towards the division. The former UFC dual-champion was impressed with O’Malley’s takedown defense, and wonders if he’s fine tuned it enough to fend of elite grapplers like Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov.
“It’s a crazy division and what speaks to how good it is, is Aljo has more defenses than anybody and he has three because you can’t hold on to the championship,” Cormier said. “Everybody’s so good. So can Sean O’Malley be that guy? Can he be the guy that brings stability to this division? He’s got some great challengers, though. But after watching him defend takedowns in the way that he did, it’s hard to envision those guys just wrestling him.”
Sterling initially had plans of moving up to challenge UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. But after losing his bantamweight title, he’s eyeing a rematch with O’Malley. Rogan thinks it’s warranted, but isn’t sure if he’ll get it right away.
“It definitely makes him deserving of a rematch,” Rogan said. “When you get your lights put out in the second round like that, maybe it’s deserving of one fight and then he gets (another shot with) a very impressive performance. You have (Cory) Sandhagen – I mean, look at this division.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
