Aljamain Sterling is as amused as anyone that Sean O’Malley is getting another championship opportunity.
The UFC officially announced that Merab Dvalishvili’s next bantamweight title defense is against O’Malley—the man Dvalishvili beat to win the belt—in the main event of UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, N.J. Their first bout was not all that competitive, with Dvalishvili winning a convincing unanimous decision, so fan reaction to the news has been tepid, especially since O’Malley hasn’t fought since losing to Dvalishvili this past September.
Hip surgery has kept O’Malley sidelined while Dvalishvili, Sterling’s close friend and teammate, went on to record his first successful title defense by beating the previously undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January. Sterling took to social media to comment on O’Malley being granted an immediate rematch.
Honest answer, the UFC’s gonna do what’s best for the business and the brand. Would I have liked an immediate rematch due to the circumstances going into the first fight? Absolutely. But I understand the business model better than most, and O’Malley is a really exciting guy that… https://t.co/IaqaMKweAS
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 2, 2025
“Honest answer, the UFC’s gonna do what’s best for the business and the brand,” Sterling wrote in response to a Twitter question. “Would I have liked an immediate rematch due to the circumstances going into the first fight? Absolutely. But I understand the business model better than most, and O’Malley is a really exciting guy that has beaten many top 5 contenders. So I think he rightfully deserves it after all the ranked names he has beaten.”
At first it sounded like Sterling was defending O’Malley, but in his follow-up tweets, he made it clear he was being sarcastic when discussing O’Malley’s in-cage accolades.
Sterling and O’Malley have their own history, with O’Malley defeating Sterling by second-round TKO to become bantamweight champion at UFC 292. Sterling has since moved up to the featherweight division, where he has gone 1-1 with a win over Calvin Kattar and a loss to Movsar Evloev.
When June 7 rolls around, Sterling will almost surely be in Dvalishvili’s corner to witness firsthand what he expects to be another winning performance by “The Machine.” But he doesn’t want fans to worry about O’Malley, because even if with another loss to Dvalishvili, Sterling jokingly suggested they could run it back one more time.
You offer him a trilogy.
