Sean O’Malley on UFC 292 title win: ‘I had a muscle strain right under my rib’

Sean O’Malley won the bantamweight title at UFC 292 despite an injury that prevented him from grappling

Sean O’Malley won the bantamweight title on Saturday at UFC 292, defeating Aljamain Sterling with an injury that should have prevented him from victory.

“I haven’t grappled in six weeks,” O’Malley admitted. “I’ve had a muscle strain, and I literally couldn’t grapple or MMA spar. There was no way I was pulling out [of the fight], but I had a muscle strain right under my rib. I could not get taken down.”

Remarkably, O’Malley did not get taken down by Sterling, a world-class grappler.

Instead, Sterling entered the second round looking to strike. He overextended with a left hand, landing off-balance, and O’Malley found his chin in the opening moments of the round.

For O’Malley, the blueprint for victory was laid in the first round. His lateral movement, constantly shifting left and right throughout the first five minutes, made Sterling impatient. It was that patience that won O’Malley the fight, resolute to his game plan as he awaited the moment when Sterling exposed his chin.

And that was the only path to victory. Had Sterling grappled with O’Malley, the upset win would have never taken place.

“Dealing with those mental demons, knowing I was injured, it was life or death if he took me down,” says O’Malley. “I could not get taken down.”

Sterling veered from his game plan, a decision that will haunt him. Had he avoided striking with O’Malley, his record-breaking reign as bantamweight champ would still be ongoing. Instead, it is O’Malley who is the new king of the bantamweights.

“It’s a crazy sense of relief,” says O’Malley. “It’s like holy sh--, I didn’t get taken down. The odds of me not getting taken down in 25 minutes against a very good grappler was not very high. It’s crazy how it played out.”

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.