Sean O'Malley wouldn’t mind fighting for an interim belt.
The UFC star and top bantamweight contender understands if UFC champion Aljamain Sterling decides to take his time before returning to defend his title once again. Sterling recently told MMA Junkie he “earned his time off” and doesn’t intend to fight again until mid 2023.
If that’s the case, O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) would like to fight for an interim title while the champion sits out. And he thinks a rematch against Marlon Vera would be the ideal opponent.
“I get it, Aljo cuts a lot of weight,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “He’s probably already back up to 165,170, he’s probably like, ‘I don’t want to cut weight again in the next couple of months, I want to enjoy it.’ … He wants to wait eight months. I get it, I do, but say the No. 1 contender, ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley is ready to go in March, and the next guy in line, in my opinion, should be ‘Chito’ Vera. He just beat Dominick Cruz, beat Frankie Edgar, beat some good guys.
“Why not have a little interim belt, and then the winner of the interim belt fight Aljo when he’s ready?”
O’Malley competed last month at UFC 280 where he edged out former champion Petr Yan in a split decision. O’Malley has four wins and one no contest in his past five bouts. His only professional loss came against Vera, who’s on a four-fight winning streak.
O’Malley would like to get that fight back and run it in March in Las Vegas.
“It’s hard to say, but I think March is a good time for me. I like fighting in March. If they have a big card in March in Vegas, you can probably see me on there.”
