Sterling v O’Malley UFC 292 betting picks – August 19, 2023

The men’s bantamweight belt will be on the line at UFC 292 this weekend when champion Aljamain Sterling takes on challenger Sean O’Malley from TD Garden in Boston. This matchup looks like a clash of styles, with the elite grappling of Sterling opposing the knockout striking of O’Malley.

So, who will prevail? Read on for BettingPlanet’s UFC 292 main event preview and betting picks.

Aljamain Sterling v Sean O’Malley fight preview

Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley

Aljamain Sterling (23-3-0) grabbed the bantamweight title by defeating Petr Yan in March 2022, when the Russian was disqualified for landing an illegal knee. This controversial win was franked when Sterling won the immediate rematch more convincingly. The champ then faced more controversy when defeating a severely compromised T.J. Dillashaw, who accepted the fight with an injured shoulder, but Sterling could not have been more dominant during the six minutes of that contest.

Next on the agenda was Henry Cejudo, who came out of retirement to challenge for his old belt and was favoured to reclaim the silverware. The fight was close, but Sterling did enough to retain the title by beating the Olympic wrestling gold medallist at his own game.

The 34-year-old has entered his last four bouts as the underdog with UFC betting sites and has felt underappreciated and disrespected by UFC management and fans alike. He has now won nine fights straight and is still improving as an athlete. A win here will see Sterling earn the respect he deserves and cement his position as one of the most gifted bantamweights to grace the ring before his likely move to a higher weight division.

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Sean O’Malley (16-1-0) earned his UFC contract with a textbook knockout of Alfred Khashakyan on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2017. He then tore through his next four unranked opponents in succession, with three of the wins coming via knockout.

In addition to his prodigious punching power, O’Malley is a very canny businessman who has modelled his fighting career on the exploits of Irish superstar Conor McGregor. The 28-year-old carefully selected the easiest possible matchups during his early career to grab public attention with sensational finishes while minimising the risk of failure. This plan hit a setback when O’Malley faced Marlon Vera, an elite mixed martial artist, who promptly knocked him out in the first round.

O’Malley went straight back to the gameplan after the loss, grabbing easy wins over Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho, and Raulian Paiva. He then produced a no-contest against Pedro Munhoz before deciding it was time to earn a shot at the title.

O’Malley squared off with former champ Petr Yan, and the two fought a back-and-forth classic that was controversially awarded to O’Malley via split decision despite 25 out of 26 media outlets scoring the fight for the Russian. Since that fight in October 2022, O’Malley has played the waiting game until securing his shot at glory.

Sterling v O’Malley UFC betting predictions

This fight will be determined by the challenger’s ability to keep the action upright. If he is taken down by the world-class wrestling of the champ, O’Malley’s path to victory becomes extremely narrow. He should have devoted his entire training camp to working on defensive takedown defence, but pundits are expecting Sterling to dictate the nature of this contest.

O’Malley enjoys a four-inch height advantage and has the power to finish the show with a crisp right hand, but he will need to land early in the rounds before Sterling can impose his superior grappling. We are tipping the champ to retain his belt, either by grinding out a decision win or finishing via submission.

 
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