Former UFC Champ Says Sean O’Malley’s Stardom Doesn’t Make Much Sense: ‘Never Understood the Attraction’

Aljamain Sterling doesn’t understand why Sean O’Malley has become such a big star.

After being handily defeated by Merab Dvalishvili nine months ago at UFC 306, fight fans were a little surprised to hear the news that ‘Sugar’ would get an immediate rematch against ‘The Machine’ this Saturday night at UFC 316 inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Considering how handily Dvalishvili defeated him the first time around, many assumed that O’Malley would have to go out and win one more before getting another crack at the reigning 135-pound titleholder. Alas, that is not the case, with many assuming that O’Malley’s star power is what landed him in this weekend’s headliner.

But not everyone is convinced that O’Malley is as big a star as the promotion suggests.

During a recent interview with Home of Fight, Sterling offered his honest take on O’Malley’s perplexing popularity, suggesting that while his fighting style is exciting, his personality is far from gripping.

“I don’t really know his personality outside of when he’s asking me constantly about my weight, or asking other fighters how much they weigh in person,” Sterling said. “That’s always been my interaction with him: ‘How much do you weigh right now?’ So I don’t really have much to go of off.

“I’ve always said his personality was a little dry, in my opinion, and I didn’t really understand the stardom other than his fight skills. He’s a very good fighter. He had a lot of good knockouts and highlights. That’s usually good when you’re fighting not-so-good people.”

Sterling doesn’t understand the attraction of Sean O’Malley

Responding to the above post on X, Sterling further clarified his comments about O’Malley.

Kinda sounds like the ‘Funk Master’ is still feeling a little salty about getting brutally KO’d by O’Malley a couple of years back.