UFC 292: Sterling vs O’Malley - Aug 19 🇺🇸

[David]

Guy has clearly ordered the Conor McGregor playbook for MMA fighters off Amazon.

[WeeAl]

Our Man! Gregory RO-Bama. Giving us something to feel good about there on a night with a shortage of it. Sure, one of those elbows was probably illegal, but fuck it, I'm glad there was a result I enjoyed. 

Sean O'Malley confirmed he belonged by following the Petr Yan with a statement total win here. Unfortunately. I'm no fan of his, but he produced here. Over produced really. I didn't think he would win, and expected Aljo to put on a bit of a grappling class here, once he got a hold of him. He never did though. Let's hope Merab can!

The ref should have stopped that fight when Zhang dropped Lemos towards the end. Nothing to be gained at that point only more lost brain cells for Lemos. Amanda showed how tough she was, but she was totally outclassed and outside of that submission attempt in round one, was never in this one at all. 

The Chris Weidman fight - at least it wasn't a knockout loss. Other than that, it was probably the next saddest way it could have went. Watching him out there, almost totally immobile, trying to encourage Tavares to stand still, was as disappointing as I expected it to be. I'm glad for Chris that he was able to get healthy enough again In order to get back to being able to do a camp and make it through a fight. But I hope this is it. I get not wanting to finish on that horrific leg break, but I expect this loss here? That will be as good as this comeback gets. 

Speaking of leg kicks. Another Irish man in the UFC that makes us all look unlikeable is Ian Garry. He did what few can do, and that's look good against Neil Magny. He beat the fuck out of him really. Wish Garry didn't seem like a bit of a bellend. Hopefully the Wonderman puts a gentlemanly smackdown on him. 

[sirdobbo89]

The Weidman thing was depressing viewing but yeah, at least he wasn't knocked out or his leg didn't fall off or whatever but Dana said he's done his knee in and he wants to see him retire. There's no point him coming back, it's not going to get any better for him. Fair play coming back from that injury to being healthy enough to have another fight again but he was on his way out before the leg snap and here he was just following Tavares about looking for combinations that were a mile off. 

Garry looked incredible. Wasn't this guy just a quiet little Irish bloke 2 or 3 fights ago? I don't remember him being this much of a poor McGregor clone, he was essentially a charisma vacuum that could barely string a sentence together. Totally dominant performance though although it's a bit shoddy when these up and comers call out aging fighters for a (potentially) easy win against Wonderboy, who has apparently declined the fight, which I'm glad about. Wonderboy is too nice a bloke to get added to a Garry highlight reel. Reminds me of Big Nog/Nelson, Colby/Maia, Cro Cop/Schaub. Depressing viewing, glad Wonderboy/Garry isn't going to be added to it, based on this performance Garry would leg kick Wonderboy's front leg to the moon.

Weili was...Weili. Dominant and whereas Lemos was 'ard as nails as it were, she never really troubled her. 

Wasn't expecting an O'Malley win. The UFC have apparently uploaded the ENTIRE fight to YouTube. Not even with the title 'O'Malley Vs Sterling', it's something like 'O'MALLEY KNOCKS OUT ALJO!!!' Dana must be buzzing. Not sure who O'Malley fights from here, maybe Vera, there's an angle you can sell pretty easily there. Fair play to Aljo who was super humble and respectful as an entire arena booed the shit out of him at the start of his post fight interview. 

[wandshogun09]

Alright show, not amazing. It had its moments. I completely missed everything leading up to this show. Any buildup, hype, the Countdown, Embedded, the press conference, the weigh in. I saw none of it. Fuck all. Had some stuff going on this week. Got around to this today though.

A new era at 135.

I never gave a great deal of thought to how I thought this fight would go really but I pretty much settled on Aljo winning via a more well rounded skillset and either mostly grappling his way to a points win or finally getting a sub in the later rounds. Either that or he’d get the back early and choke him similar to how he got Sandhagen. There was always that chance of O’Malley catching him with something nasty on the feet though. It’s the one area where I’m never confident in Sterling. He doesn’t have the power to keep opponents off and his striking form has always been weird. If O’Malley was gonna win, it was always gonna look something like this. Sterling just wasn’t able to get his game going and O’Malley got to him and made the most of his opportunity. Not a fan of him but fair play. I was probably the biggest critic and doubter of him on here but that Yan fight made me reassess and seeing him put Aljo down just cements it. Like him or not, he’s definitely legit. Seen quite a bit of criticism of the stoppage but I don’t know. Goddard certainly could’ve let it go on a bit longer but I didn’t have a massive issue with it. Sterling didn’t seem to either at the time but he’s since taken to Twitter and criticised it. Understandable. He wasn’t out cold so of course he’s gonna think it should’ve carried on. But it’s one of them where there’s a possibility he might have survived and turned it around, but most likely he was just gonna keep eating shots.

This should be next. It’s the natural next fight, in my opinion. Merab’s earned a shot and there’s a story you can play off there with him trying to get revenge for his friend and teammate, plus the whole jacket silliness. But I don’t think they’re gonna go that route. O’Malley’s already calling for a Chito Vera rematch. I’m conflicted on that. On the one hand, that’s a rematch I’ve been wanting to see for a bit now and Chito’s still the only man to beat O’Malley to date so I wouldn’t hate it. And I get why O’Malley wants that rematch, it’s the only blemish on his record. But it also feels a bit weak. Calling out a guy who got dominated by Sandhagen in March when you’ve got the guy who beat him in Sandhagen, Merab and possibly even an Aljo rematch right there and they’re all more deserving. I can really see them going with O’Malley vs Vera 2 though. Again, I won’t complain if they do but it doesn’t feel like the right fight. Sounds like Sterling doesn’t fancy that move to 145 and the Volk fight anymore either, does it?

Zhang Weili proper battered Amanda Lemos. It was pretty exciting, I thought, despite the one sidedness of it. But there was no doubt Zhang had won a mega lopsided decision by the time it was over. Credit to Lemos though. What a tough little bastard. The way the first couple of rounds went I never expected her to see the final buzzer but she was there to the very end. But Zhang just proved too good, too well rounded. The major difference in the end came down to Zhang’s superior grappling and her ability to dictate where the fight went. Every time Lemos seemed like she might do something, Zhang switched to grappling and Lemos had no real answers. Probably should’ve been stopped later on. Got to be Yan Xiaonan for the next title shot. China vs China. Only other option would be Tatiana Suarez but I think she needs another win.

Ian Garry absolutely schooled Neil Magny didn’t he? Christ. Did everything but finish him. Would’ve been kinder if he just knocked him out, to be honest, but Magny’s tough as nails.

No love lost going in. I didn’t follow the buildup, had other shit going on this week, but apparently it was something about Magny saying he hits his kids and Garry calling him on it. Weirdest fight buildup in a while. All that aside, this was a really strong performance from Garry. If he’d have got the finish it would’ve helped though. Really felt like he should’ve been able to get him out of there in that third round but this was about as dominant and conclusive as a decision win gets. Onwards and upwards. Wouldn’t mind seeing that Geoff Neal fight rebooked now. I know he called out Wonderboy and I’d like to see that as well but I actually think the Neal fight is better. Either will do.

Mario Bautista vs Da’Mon Blackshear was a pretty good fight but I kind of lost track. By the end I felt like Blackshear might’ve edged it but that it could go either way. Wasn’t shocked that Bautista got the nod but that 30-27 card seemed way off to me. Maybe I need to rewatch this one though. Was sorting the kids dinner out and only half watching it. Seeing some of the usual outcries of robbery but that’s standard after any close fight, isn’t it? Rough for Bautista though. He got the W in the end so it all worked out but to go from the original Garbrandt fight, a big name at the end of his rope, to an up and comer with some momentum like Blackshear is quite a change up.

Chito Vera vs Pedro Munhoz was a decent main card opener but never quite caught fire like I thought it would. Munhoz wasn’t awful but I didn’t think it was as close a fight as the commentary made it sound. Had Chito winning fairly comfortably myself but whatever. Alright fight. And at least Vera’s back on the winning side of things now. If the originally planned Cejudo fight went ahead I don’t think Chito would’ve been waking up coming off a win today. This gets him back on track and, as I’ve gone into above, given who the champ is now he could find himself in an underserved title shot in the near future.

Found Brad Tavares vs Chris Weidman sad to watch. Weidman never got depressingly stopped like I expected but that probably would’ve been merciful, to be honest. Fair play to him for even being mentally strong enough to come back at all but he didn’t look right at all to me here. Maybe some of it was ring rust but it felt like more than that. Despite saying all the right things going in, his confidence in that repaired leg clearly isn’t there anymore. And as a result all the explosion is gone, which renders his wrestling as good as redundant. Didn’t help that Tavares is so physically strong and hard to take/keep down but I don’t think Weidman fully committed to one takedown attempt. Fuck, I’m not sure he even threw one kick with that leg. He seemed to switch southpaw every time he wanted to kick. It’s natural he’d be a bit hesitant given the injury but he seems to have a real mental block there. All that plus he’s 39 now. I think everyone had a bad feeling about this going in and, while it certainly could’ve been a lot worse, it didn’t do anything to make me feel better about his comeback either. Dana’s calling for him to retire but I reckon he’ll end up getting one more shot on the MSG card in November. Would make sense to have his farewell fight in New York. Problem is I don’t think Weidman wants to retire.

Gregory Rodrigues made easy work out of Denis Tiuliulin. Finally used his BJJ, immediately took Tiuliulin down and just crushed him with the elbows.

That first elbow was definitely illegal though. Don’t think it was intentional at all but it was all back of the head. I think he’d have found the finish regardless. It was early in the fight, he was still fresh and his grappling is good enough that I doubt Tiuliulin would’ve got out of that position. Either would’ve got pounded out eventually or submitted. Shame the dodgy elbow put a cloud of controversy over it but happy to see Rodrigues back in the win column.

The two TUF finals were OK. Didn’t watch a second of TUF but I’m at least slightly familiar with all four finalists from their previous UFC stints. All ‘veterans’ in the finale then? Didn’t work out too well for the ‘prospects’ on this season. Bantamweight final was so-so but I was glad Brad Katona got the win. Seemed harsh he was ever let go in the first place. Really enjoyed the other final though. Kurt Holobaugh looked great.

Beautiful finish. Vaguely remember Austin Hubbard being decent as well. Holobaugh really put it on him here though, wasn’t gonna be denied. Not sure how far he goes now, especially in a division like 155, but there’s plenty of good fights to make.

Petroski vs Meerschaert was a fun one. Gutted the decision went against our Gerald though. Not even saying I disagreed with the judges. I kind of lost track of this one. Felt like it probably came down to the first round but it was a close fight. Petroski keeps calling out Bo Nickal. Maybe they should just make that fight. Fuck it. I reckon Bo wins that one but it’s definitely a decent test for him.

Natalia Silva keeps the win streak going. Not sure where her ceiling is, not expecting her to go on a run at the gold or anything, but she’s been great to watch over the past year or so and she’s been winning and performing well. Granted the opposition hasn’t been stellar but she’s putting in strong performances. Andrea Lee isn’t amazing but this was Silva’s best win yet. Lee was ranked in the Top 15 at Flyweight going in so Silva should start to climb a bit now.

Quickly becoming a fan of the other Silva as well, ‘Killer’ Karine. She’s class. She had a few hiccups getting her UFC career started but she’s on the right track now. That’s 2 first round subs in 2 months and she’s now on an 8 fight winning streak and 17-4 overall with 17 finishes.

One second left in the round! This one must’ve been extra sweet as well because Moroz submitted her early in her career. So she’s avenged that one. Interested to see who they match her up with next. Hopefully not Natalia in a battle of Silvas because I don’t wanna see either get derailed at this stage.

So yeah. Not the best PPV. Certainly not the worst. It always had a tough couple of acts to follow because 290 for me is maybe the best PPV in UFC history and 291 was pretty awesome as well. But this wasn’t bad and it had a memorable ending with the start of the Suga Show. I’ve been saying for a while that Bantamweight is probably my favourite division these days and the result of the main event here just shakes things up and adds another level of intrigue to an already fantastic division.

Edited August 20, 2023 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

I had a feeling O'Malley would do it, but I didn't think it would be so clean cut. His style and movment just seemed like kryptonite to Aljo, who just couldn't get going. Had no issue with the stoppage. Sterling was rolling around but his lack of protest shows he was pretty out of it.

O'Malley as Champion is gonna be a wild one. First time the UFC has had a Champion who crosses over and mixes in with that new breed of social media influencer Prime-drinking types. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Egg Shen

[Bruce85]

Enjoyable card overall. I went with O’Malley in the pole. I thought it would be an easy win for one of them, just wasn’t 100% sure who. The UFC and Dana are going to be all over O’Malley as champ, wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the cover of the next UFC game. 

 

Apparently, Ian Garry got the first ever 30-24 scorecard. I also missed the build up so didn’t hear about the comments Magny made about hitting his kids so rather happy to see him take a beating. 

[Bus Surfer]

Fuck you O'Malley! 

 

[Egg Shen]

13 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

 Bantamweight final was so-so but I was glad Brad Katona got the win.

You nod off during this one Wand? the fight was an absolute war. Best TUF finale in a long time.

Brad Katona's accent is all to cock though.

[wandshogun09]

6 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

You nod off during this one Wand? the fight was an absolute war. Best TUF finale in a long time.

Must’ve been one of the fights I got distracted in. Nothing majorly stood out but then I went online and kept seeing people raving about it so I think I’ll have to rewatch that one properly when the kids are in bed or something.

Watched the O’Malley-Sterling finish a few times now and, I was fine with the stoppage anyway but looking at it again today I’m even finer with it. Aljo was eating a lot of unanswered punches after the knockdown.

Seeing a fair few comparisons to this as well…

[Kfogg1991]

So I was set and adamant I was sleeping and watching the next Morning but my mate ended up coming over and that changed and I'm actually happy for it.

I openly said I hate Sean o malley and wanted more than anything for aljo to demolish and expose him but fucking hell that was a phenomenal outing by Sean and no one in gbe universe said he was getting the knock out and my god that knock out was spectacular.

Also the co main was a all out domination by the champ but my Christ that fight was so entertaining and I was enjoying every single second of it which I never in a million years expected

Rest of the card was alright nothing life changing but okay and enjoyable 

[David]

We're now seeing the difference in being able to call the shots when you're a champion that Dana White likes...

“Before me vs. Aljo, before Pedro vs. Chito, I said, ‘Hey, Chito goes out there and wins, I go out there and win, I’m fighting Chito for my first title defense,’ and that’s what happened. That’s what’s going to happen next in my eyes, that’s what I want."

“I’m sure the UFC’s down with that. Like I said, they’re in the fight business. Me vs. Chito is the biggest fight in the bantamweight division to make. There’s not even one that’s really close. Me versus anyone is going to be a big fight because I’m a pretty big name. But me vs. Chito is the biggest fight to make, me vs. Cory [Sandhagen] is out there. Me vs. Merab — Merab is literally just so f****** boring. Just, it’s hard to make that business-wise, but yeah, you could make that fight eventually."

He basically wants everyone before Merab. And he'll likely get his way.

One thing's for sure. He ain't going to be fighting in November. Dana's boys don't need to turn shit around quick.