It doesn’t sound like Aljamain Sterling is sure that he will fight Sean O’Malley soon.
Last week at UFC 288, UFC President Dana White said he hoped Sterling, who defend his belt against Henry Cejudo, would be able to fight O’Malley at UFC 292 in Boston which is set to take place on August 19th.
Dana White says that he wants to book Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley for August for #UFC292 in Boston #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/zE9Pzg1zCD
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) May 7, 2023
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, Sterling said he wasn’t sure he would be ready to fight in August, which he feels is a quick turnaround.
Aljamain Sterling asked if he will fight on the UFC PPV in August.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/ySvZEgkull
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 15, 2023
“Listen, this would be the fastest turnaround I would imagine for a UFC champion. I could be corrected. I think Volkanovski was four, four and a half or something like that from the Abu Dhabi card,” Sterling said… “We would be neck-and-neck with that. I just fought one of the baddest dudes in the game, you know what I mean. In a perfect world, it wouldn’t (be August), but at the end of the day, I’m an athlete. I’m a prizefighter at the end of the day so for me, I’m motivated by competition and, of course, the prize.”
Sterling went on to say that fighting O’Malley at UFC 292 in August is a possibility if he’s able to being training next week.
“If I could start training next week, I think it’s possible. If I could start. Just have to wait until next week. I gotta get an X-ray. I gotta get a couple X-rays still,” Sterling added. “I crushed my legs on Henry, smashing him. I didn’t care if I was going to kick his elbow. I didn’t care if I was going to kick his kneecap. I smashed my feet up pretty good so both my feet are pretty swollen. The left one is a lot worse, but it’s victory wounds so it’s all good.”
As of right now it appears that Sterling may be attempting to negotiate more money from the UFC before signing off on the O’Malley fight.
