Aljamain Sterling isn’t a fan of the way UFC and CEO Dana White handled Sean O’Malley’s bearing to the bantamweight title. His gripe? The former bantamweight champion believes O’Malley didn’t have to face the difficult matchups that he and other fighters have fought through to finally get their chance at the elusive UFC gold.

‘The Funkmaster’ faced off against O’Malley at UFC 292 in 2023 where he lost the title via second-round TKO. But in a startling revelation, Sterling recently shed light on how the promotion may have fast-tracked O’Malley for a title shot against him. In fact, Sterling even brought up Jake Paul’s controversial rise in the world of boxing as a ‘blueprint’ the UFC and Dana White might have followed!

Aljamain Sterling blasts the UFC and Sean O’Malley for following the “Jake Paul route”  

Before facing off against Petr Yan for the bantamweight title at UFC 259 in 2021, Aljamain Sterling first had to win the title eliminator bout against the dangerous Cory Sandhagen. In fact, before getting in the title picture, ‘The Funkmaster’ had run through a gauntlet of elite opposition like Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera.

In a recent clip shared on Instagram from his appearance on the ‘Verse Us with Erick Nicksick’ podcast, Sterling stated, “I wanna see the best of the best compete, no excuses. Now, enter O’Malley, he fights one ranked guy, gets a title shot, split decision albeit and this is not me hating, it’s just calling a spade a spade.”

Sean O’Malley had fought Petr Yan, the man Sterling took the title from at UFC 280 in 2022 before he faced off against ‘The Funkmaster’. As such, Sterling’s frustration doesn’t just lie with O’Malley. He’s equally vexed with the UFC and Dana White as he explained, “He’s supposed to fight me next, which would give me enough time to prepare but instead they say oh Cejudo is coming back, we want you to fight him. In the back of their mind, they’re like whoever wins this we’re going to turn them around for August.”

Was it something planned by the promotion all along? Sterling indicated that, “…only O’Malley could disclose this, or at least the UFC for sure knew that this is what they were trying to do”. But he believes the organization carefully orchestrated Sean O’Malley’s title run, giving him every possible advantage.

“It’s like the Jake Paul route, stacking the deck so that you get these highlights…” Sterling remarked, comparing the UFC’s strategy to Paul’s selective matchmaking where he has fought former UFC fighters who are at the tail end of their careers and is scheduled to face a 58-year old Mike Tyson next in November. But Sterling wasn’t done with this. He also had an issue with Sean O’Malley choosing Marlon Vera for his first title defense, and ‘Suga’ hasn’t stayed quiet, he has also fired back on social media!

O’Malley lashes out at Sterling’s comments on social media about “easier title defense” 

Sean O’Malley is gearing up to defend his bantamweight crown at UFC 306, or ‘Riyadh Season Noche UFC,’ on September 14. His opponent? Merab Dvalishvili, a relentless force in the Octagon and a close friend of Aljamain Sterling. But here’s where things get interesting—Sterling isn’t too pleased about how this matchup came to be.

Sterling explained, “He should have fought Merab first, before fighting ‘Chito. You get an easier title defense against a guy you’re clearly worlds better than stylistically. The guy’s not gonna take you down. He can’t take you down, ‘cause he has no wrestling ability… ” What did O’Malley have to say in response? The bantamweight champion took to X and fired off a salvo against Sterling as he jabbed with, “I’m glad they gave me an easy fight to get the title.”

As the fight night approaches, the tension between these camps is only heating up. Will Sean O’Malley prove that he wasn’t given an easy road to the title as claimed by Sterling? Or will Merab Dvalishvili finally avenge his friend’s loss at UFC 306? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!