Advertisement

Sports world reacts to Sean O'Malley's stunning upset over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292: 'Salute that man'

callie lawson-freeman
Contributing writer
·4 min read
70
Sean O'Malley celebrates after defeating Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292 on Saturday in Boston. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
Sean O'Malley celebrates after defeating Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292 on Saturday in Boston. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

Sean O'Malley, 28, dethroned Aljamain Sterling as UFC bantamweight champion in commanding fashion inside Boston's TD Garden Saturday night.

When Sterling overcommitted on a left hand, O'Malley delivered a smooth counter right to the defending champion's jaw that sent him down to the canvas.

The dramatic result left fellow fighters and fans of the sport stunned, many of them posting their immediate reactions on social media. O'Malley, now the youngest champion on the UFC roster, channeled Britney Spears as he joined the conversation:

One of the posts praising O'Malley's win came from none other than NBA star Kevin Durant. "Suga Sean really a different beast. Salute that man," he wrote.

The performance represents a new level of stardom for the Montana native. Combat sports social media specialist for TNT, Camatkar Sandhu, noted that the "magnitude of the moment" was evident as UFC made the knockout more accessible for fans everywhere:

O'Malley faced a lot of criticism ahead of his first championship fight, and he addressed some of it after his right hand shocked the detractors. There was plenty said about him getting fights because he had the favor of UFC president Dana White. There were also claims that his trash talking ability was better than his ability to finish a UFC fight with emphasis.

On Saturday night, he made sure an analyst knew at least one of those talking points was now disproven:

longtime MMA fighter Matt "The Immortal" Brown also had his doubts about O'Malley ahead of his championship debut. Brown mocked his own take before O'Malley could:

One fan poked fun at the idea that O'Malley could do anything as impressive as Conor McGregor's 2021 KO of Jose Aldo in 2021. O'Malley shared the post with the eye and laughing emojis. He didn't need to say much more than that, because his second round finish over Sterling Saturday was almost identical to McGregor's 13-second stunner.

O'Malley was also met with kudos from fellow UFC stars:

Shortly after the biggest victory of his career, O'Malley asked Joe Rogan, "Did 'Chito' win?" The question was in reference to Marlon "Chito" Vera, who beat Pedro Munhoz in a unanimous decision earlier that night.

O'Malley (17-1), took his only loss from Vera in 2020 and emphasized on Saturday night how ready he is to run it back.

"I'll whoop 'Chito's' a** in December in [Las] Vegas at T-Mobile [Arena]. Let's f***ing go!" he said. Vera responded via X, formerly Twitter, seemingly ready to take O'Malley up on his offer:

If Vera turns out to be O'Malley's first championship challenger, it appears he'll be facing a completely different opponent than the one he met three years ago.