Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley may have buried the hatchet, but the former champion still has one problem with his UFC rival.
The pair faced off in 2023 for the UFC bantamweight title, where ‘Suga’ got the better of Sterling, knocking him out in the second round of their title showdown.
In recent years, O’Malley has praised his former foe, even describing him as his ‘worst matchup’ despite losing twice to the current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Sterling has since attempted to bounce back from the defeat, with his most recent victory a five-round decision win against Brian Ortega in China.
Aljamain Sterling has one big issue with UFC rival Sean O’Malley
It was contested at a catchweight of 153 lbs, but the ‘Funk Master’ will still be competing in the featherweight division following his bantamweight title success.
Although his feud with the former titleholder is not a problem, he has taken issue with O’Malley for his attitude in the years since.
On a Pound 4 Pound podcast appearance, the 36-year-old spoke honestly about how his old rival has celebrated the win despite their feud ending two years ago.
Sterling said: “My main thing with O’Malley is that he paraded around as if he beat the best version of me. And that’s my only gripe with him. “It’s the gloating that doesn’t sit right. He put my f- – -ing picture on his podcast wall. This is the type of s- – – that gets you slapped in person.
“But then to gloat about, ‘I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time at the time,’ and I’m just like, ‘Yo, brother, you p- – -ed me off’.”
Even though he has moved on from the feud, he has sent a message to O’Malley in case the Montana MMA star wants to test himself in a new weight division.
“If O’Malley wants to come up, I would gladly entertain it. Other than that, the chapter is closed. I’m happy for him, I’m glad he has a family. I’m not salty about (the loss). But if you want to come up to 145, I’m right here,” he said.
Aljamain Sterling criticises UFC referee Herb Dean following his last UFC contest
His former rival is not the only person he has an issue with in the UFC; referee Herb Dean has been criticised by the fighter following his win over Ortega on the Shanghai card.
The performance of Dean during the fight has been heavily scrutinised by Sterling, who was confused as to how the fighter-turned-referee did not ‘understand’ why he could not work out of certain positions.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, the New Yorker spoke about his experience, especially in the fifth round, with how the contest was officiated.
He said: “I’ve never seen someone get hurt (Sterling in the fifth round of the Ortega fight) and Herb yells at them to engage in a fight when he’s right there, seeing that the person just got hurt.
“Then, when you hurt the other guy, he says absolutely nothing when the other guy is doing the same exact thing for literally 34 seconds. I’ve counted this to make sure I’m not being biased.”
“We’re the only ones who have accountability. Us and the coaches.”
The ex-champion also highlighted Marc Goddard as having an issue with consistency in fights.
Despite complaints, he pulled off the victory and has now thrown his name in the hat to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight championship.