This weekend’s UFC 292 card features a bantamweight title bout between champion Aljamain Sterling and top contender Sean O’Malley. Boston is hosting a UFC night for the first time in four years and this weekend’s card is full of great matches.
Sterling is a -235 favorite to win, with O’Malley at +175. The favored method of Sterling winning is by KO/TKO/DQ at +270, followed by decision at +575 and submission at +2500. The over/under for rounds is 4.5, with the under the -205 favorite. It is +160 for the fight to go the distance and -215 for the No.
The 34-year old Sterling hails from New York and is 23-3 entering Saturday’s bout. He is ranked No. 6 pound-for-pound male fighter in the organization and was an All-American wrestler at the Division III NCAA level. Sterling has won nine in a row against some of the biggest names in the sport. He claimed the bantamweight title in his first shot, a fourth-round win over Petr Yan at UFC 259.
Sterling defended the belt again with a third-round TKO (punches) win over TJ Dillashaw and then this past May beat former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in a controversial split decision.
Sterling is 5-foot-7 with a reach of 71 inches, and his fights average 13:36. He lands 4.78 significant strikes per minute with 52 percent accuracy. He has 11 wins by decision, eight by submission, three by KO/TKO and one DQ.
O’Malley was born in Montana and now fights out of the Phoenix area. He is 16-1 dating to 2015 and ranked No. 2 in the bantamweight division. O’Malley then got a chance at Dana White’s Contender Series 2 and beat Alfred Khashakyan by first-round KO (punch) to earn a UFC contract.
The 5-foot-11 O’Malley has a reach of 72 inches, and his fights average 9:01. He lands 7.43 significant strikes per minute – highest in divisional history – with 60 percent accuracy. O’Malley has 11 wins by KO/TKO, four by decision and one by submission. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on four occasions and “Fight of the Night” three times.
Fighters: Sterling (23-3) vs O’Malley (16-1)
Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Day/Time: Saturday, August 19th, 11:30 p.m. ET
Prediction: I’ll take the underdog O’Malley in this one. He’s younger, bigger and lands an incredible amount of strikes per minute. 73% of O’Malley’s wins are by TKO/KO as compared to 35% for Sterling.
O’Malley +205
