Almost from the day he won a UFC contract on Week 2 of Season 1 of "Dana White's Contender Series" on July 18, 2017, in Las Vegas, Sean O'Malley has been the target of know-it-all critics and internet trolls.
He has no wrestling defense, they said. His legs are vulnerable, they said. Good wrestlers will eat him up and spit him out. He got his fights because White, the UFC president, was fond of him and his ability to talk a good game.
And look, O'Malley's up there with Conor McGregor as one of the best talkers in the business.
He didn't have to say a word Saturday, though he did.
He didn't buckle at the sight of the big, burly wrestler.
O'Malley ended the reign of Aljamain Sterling as UFC bantamweight champion in stunning and dramatic fashion at UFC 292 inside TD Garden in Boston. When Sterling overcommitted on a left hand, O'Malley calmly fired a counter right hand that landed on the jaw and basically sent Sterling down in a heap, face first on the canvas.
THE FULL @SUGASEANMMA KNOCKOUT!
A right hand that will live on in UFC history at #UFC292! pic.twitter.com/jM5MkPTxqK
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
O'Malley ended it with a few punches from the top before referee Marc Goddard stopped it at 51 seconds of the second round. It was the first significant punch O'Malley threw and it not only ended the fight, it won him the title and turned him into a superstar.
He had the TD Garden crowd in Boston in the palm of his hand Saturday. The fans roared whenever his face appeared on the video boards in the arena, and when he set foot in the Octagon, a chorus of "Sean O'Malley!" went up around the arena.
It was obvious he was a star at that point. A few minutes and one laser accurate right hand later, he added super to the front of star. It was reminiscent of the December night in Las Vegas in 2015 when Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to claim the featherweight title.
That was the first show in which McGregor sold 1 million pay-per-views, and he hasn't done fewer since.
The UFC may be looking at the same thing with O'Malley, who has a way to attract notice. Love him or hate him, people swarm to him and are interested in what he does. The fact that he's a killer KO puncher doesn't hurt either, as Saturday's finish was his 12th KO among his 17 wins. He's 17-1 with one no-contest and looks as if he's still improving.
Sterling said O'Malley was better than he thought, and praised his footwork. It was a difficult thing for him to emulate in training, he said.
"[His footwork] was one of the things I tried to get guys to emulate," Sterling said. "I know this is a hard thing to do because I do it myself when I go side-to-side. But it's different when someone else is doing it to you and you're like, 'I can't track this mother f***er down.' I tracked him down a couple of times, but then he'd spin out at the last second. When I did I think a sidekick, he was able to pivot out beautifully. He did a couple of things really well."
None of this means, though, that a long run at the top is about to occur. As good as he is, and he's plenty good despite what the critics have said, is that there are a long slew of challengers gunning for him.
After the fight, O'Malley said he wanted Marlon "Chito" Vera in December in Las Vegas, giving him the opportunity to avenge the only loss of his 19-bout career. Vera is a worthy challenger, but he's only one of many who are lined up for a shot at the new king.
Sterling had said before the fight he'd move to featherweight if he won. But he left open the possibility of staying at 135 if he lost in a bid to avenge the defeat. He deserves that after the run he had at the top, earning raves as potentially the greatest bantamweight of all time.
There's No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili, Sterling's close friend and teammate, who is also on a nine-fight winning streak. Ex-double champion Henry Cejudo, who is also an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler, called O'Malley out on social media Saturday.
Cory Sandhagen deserves consideration for sure, and there are others.
So it's not as if it's a guarantee that O'Malley hangs onto the belt for a long stretch. But there will be a series of massive fights, because of O'Malley's star power and ability to sell, that will keep him at or near the top, and making big money, for a long time.
Sterling wasn't a great PPV salesman, but there is little doubt O'Malley will be. And he'll get bigger with every great match that's made and with every controversy, no matter how contrived, that arises.
He'll make it onto all the mainstream shows that Sterling couldn't, increasing his own profile while at the same time building interest in the UFC's bantamweight division.
It's heady stuff for a kid from Montana who grew up dreaming of being rich and who turned to fighting as a means toward that end.
He didn't, though, find humility in the aftermath of his KO. In his typical style, he laid it on thick.
"I said going into this fight that it only takes one mistake against me," O'Malley said. "I don't even know if that was a mistake. I'm just that f***ing good."
It was a mistake. O'Malley is slick and knows how to get his opponents to overcommit. Sterling wanted to cut the distance so he could put his hands on O'Malley and use his advantage in wrestling. He whipped a left at O'Malley but put everything he had behind it. When O'Malley calmly slipped the punch, Sterling's follow through opened him for a counter and O'Malley didn't miss.
O'Malley's dream of getting rich is about to come true. But the good news for Sterling and the other contenders is that O'Malley will generate enough money to help others make a lot of it, as well.
