Aljamain Sterling is favored against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292: Sterling vs. O’Malley on Saturday, August 19 in Boston, Massachusetts. This event is one of four fights on the main pay-per-view card. Sterling is 23-3 in his career, while O’Malley is 16-1 in his career. There are a total of 11 fights, with four on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 292: Sterling vs. O’Malley. Let’s look at the bout between Sterling and O’Malley and UFC predictions.
UFC 292: Sterling vs. O’Malley takes place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday, August 19 with 11 fights, with four on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley Betting
Aljamain Sterling (23-3, 15-3 UFC)
Sterling came into the UFC with a record of 8-0 and he has 15 wins and three losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has six wins and no losses. He defeated Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision, Cory Sandhagen by rear-naked choke submission, Petr Yan twice with once by disqualification and once by split decision, T.J. Dillashaw by TKO, and Henry Cejudo by split decision. Sterling’s last loss in his career was against Marlon Moraes by KO in December of 2017. Sterling has been a pro since 2011 and he has three wins by TKO/KO and eight by submission. He has four first round finishes.
Sterling said this mmafighting.com about his upcoming fight against O’Malley, “I want to smash this guy’s face. I want to smash the ugly mole rat, the naked mole rat that he is. When I take this man down, that naked mole rat is getting smashed. I want him to pay for everything that he said, all the trash talk, everything, all his Dana White privilege. I didn’t have none of that, and I can’t wait to take it out on him. My prediction, second-round TKO, but if he gives me his neck, he’s got that long ‘Daddy Long Neck’ out there, so if he leaves that out there I’m going to strangle him.”
Sean O’Malley (16-1, 8-1 UFC)
O’Malley came into the UFC with a record of 8-0 and he has eight wins and one loss in the UFC. He defeated Terrion Ware by unanimous decision, Andre Soukhamthath by unanimous decision, José Alberto Quiñónez by TKO, Eddie Wineland by KO, Thomas Almeida by KO, Kris Moutinho by TKO, Raulian Paiva by TKO, and Petr Yan by split decision; while losing to Marlon Vera by TKO. O’Malley has been a pro since 2015 and he has 11 wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has 10 first round finishes.
Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch said this to mmajunkie.usatoday.com about the upcoming matchup between Sterling and O’Malley, “Everyone’s game plan against Sean has been pin him against the cage and try to take him down. And you see very good guys trying to stalk him, and its way harder than they think. But I think Aljo is such a good athlete. He’s so funky that he’s going to take risks, and he’s going to try to grab Sean. He’s going to take a big risk. And that’s also going to be able to open up the knockout for us. Sean can knock people out with every one of his limbs, so if he lunges in at the wrong time, he could get some knuckles bounced off his chin, and it could be the end of the night.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Sterling 4.78 / O’Malley 7.43
Striking Accuracy: Sterling 52% / O’Malley 60%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Sterling 2.37 / O’Malley 3.54
Defense: Sterling 58% / O’Malley 62%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Sterling 2.02 / O’Malley 0.45
Takedown Accuracy: Sterling 24% / O’Malley 42%
Takedowns defended: Sterling 45% / O’Malley 60%
Submission average: Sterling 0.8/ O’Malley 0.5
UFC Picks
I know that Sterling hasn’t been a great finisher in his career, but if you listen to him leading up to this fight there is no question he is looking for the finish against O’Malley. With the intensity that these two are going to bring right from the start, I can’t see it going the distance. I’ll take the rounds to go under and I also think taking Sterling to win by finish is worth a shot at plus money.
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 8/19 | Sean O'malley | +207 |
| Aljamain Sterling | -270 |
| 8/19 | Amanda Lemos | +218 |
| Weili Zhang | -285 |
| 8/19 | Pedro Munhoz | +150 |
| Marlon Vera | -190 |
| 8/19 | Chris Weidman | +204 |
| Brad Tavares | -265 |
| 8/19 | Denis Tiuliulin | +264 |
| Gregory Rodrigues | -355 |
| 8/19 | Gerald Meerschaert | +186 |
| Andre Petroski | -240 |
| 8/19 | Andrea Lee | +277 |
| Natalia Silva | -375 |
| 8/19 | Karine Silva | -155 |
| Maryna Moroz | +124 |
| 8/19 | Neil Magny | +328 |
| Ian Garry | -460 |
| 8/19 | Kurt Holobaugh | +160 |
| Austin Hubbard | -203 |
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