Who Will the Newly Crowned UFC Bantamweight Champ Sean O’Malley Fight After His UFC 292 Triumph? Will He Decide to Avenge His Only Loss in the UFC?

The UFC 292 proved to be a true barnburner with an enthralling main event. The fight-crazy audience at the TD Garden in Boston was absolutely stunned to witness a second-round finish to the coveted main event. But, the bout between the dethroned UFC Bantamweight champ, Aljamain Sterling, and Sean ‘Sugar’ O’Malley ‘ started off rather slowly. Both fighters displayed a cautious approach in the beginning, maintaining distance and going for minimum engagement.

But, ‘Funk Master’ couldn’t keep his patience, which resulted in him over-committing and missing a straight right. However, O’Malley was swift to spot Sterling’s unguarded chin at the same moment. He landed a powerful straight right hand on Sterling’s chin, driving him to the canvas. Some vicious ground and pound from ‘Sugar’ following that became enough for referee Marc Goddard to declare an end to the bout. Even though O’Malley’s fans are understandably enthralled with him claiming the UFC Bantamweight title, a worthy question might also be teasing them right now. Who will ‘Sugar’ take on for his first title defense?

Sean O’Malley might choose to settle things with his only unconquered UFC rival to date

The 28-year-old hailing from Helena, Montana, took up MMA professionally at the end of 2014. Since then, he has been pretty much a steamroller, flattening most of his opponents to date. After fighting in smaller promotions, the Helena native made his way into the UFC with his remarkable performances in ‘Dana White Contender Series’ and ‘The Ultimate Fighter 26’. He continued his domination in the UFC’s Bantamweight division till his unbeaten streak was soiled by the noted Ecuadorian UFC Bantamweight, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.

‘Sugar’ took on ‘Chito’ at UFC 252 on 15 August 2020. But after the first round of their bout, O’Malley’s slowed down considerably due to a compromised right foot. It finally had him taken down on the ground as his Ecuadorian rival finished off the bout with some brutal elbows from the top.

However, O’Malley came back stronger in his next bout against Thomas Almeida achieving a clean KO victory. He hasn’t lost a single bout since then. So, currently, Vera stands as the only opponent who has managed to beat ‘Sugar’ in his entire professional MMA career.

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Hence, a large chunk of fans might say that ‘Sugar’ will decide to avenge the only loss in his professional MMA career now that he has the UFC’s Bantamweight crown on his head.

Sean O’Malley reveals his preferred opponent for his first title defense

The noted UFC Bantamweight, Merab Dvalishvili, has been a strong contender for a UFC Bantamweight title shot for quite some time now. But, he kept on refusing it since it was his dear friend Aljamain Sterling holding the championship to date. Now that ‘Sugar’ has conquered the title, it’s quite apparent that Dvalishvili will look to get his deserved shot at it.

Amidst such a situation, the UFC authorities may select O’Malley’s next rival as per his choice. ‘Sugar’ also gave out hints related to the same at the post-event press conference of UFC 292. A reporter started off his question with “Outside of ‘Chito’ are there any Bantamweights that interest you?”.

Well, this question might be enough for a large chunk of fans to realize that O’Malley does have Vera in his mind as his next opponent. To make things clearer, O’Malley replied, “Gervonta”, which is actually the first name of the noted boxer, Gervonta Davis, who is miles away from the UFC roster.

O’Malley also called out Vera in his post-fight interview with the noted Joe Rogan further clarifying his take. Hence, he probably has no other Bantamweight on his radar except ‘Chito’ currently. The fans who predicted ‘Chito’ to be ‘Sugar’s’ first title defense opponent may be excited right now about their prediction coming true in the future.

Did you also predict that O’Malley will pick Vera for his first-ever title defense?

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