Sean O’Malley wins bantamweight title at UFC 292

Sean O’Malley is the new UFC bantamweight champion.

O’Malley knocked out Aljamain Sterling in the second round to become the new champion. Sterling had held the championship since March 6, 2021 after he defeated Petr Yan by disqualification following an illegal knee by Yan.

After the match, O’Malley said that this was the most nervous he had ever been for a fight, saying that Sterling was the best bantamweight of all time, but never lost his confidence going into the fight. He said this is the Suga era now and planned on running things until 2035. He called out for a match against Chito Vera in December at T-Mobile Arena.

Entering UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series, O’Malley has racked up wins in 10 of his last 12 fights, most recently defeating Petr Yan by split decision at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

The first title match of the night had Zhang Weili defeating Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision to retain the UFC women’s strawweight title.