Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will look to continue his winning streak when he is up against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292. ‘Funkmaster‘ successfully made his third title defense when he defeated the former UFC double champ Henry Cejudo.
He will look to increase the number against the very popular Sean OMalley, who is no less impressive when it comes to his UFC record. This one is also a landmark event for UFC and is expected by many to attract impressive PPV numbers.
While Sterling has defended his bantamweight title against UFC superstars like Cejudo, Peter Yan, and TJ Dillashaw, he is not exactly the biggest draw out there. He has been constantly subjected to online hatred and trolling because of his controversial disqualification win against Peter Yan, which made him the bantamweight champion.
Your main event matchup by the numbers 📊
Who’s leaving #UFC292 as the bantamweight king!?
[ B2YB #HeartOfStone, only on @Netflix ] pic.twitter.com/n1xWftgZSy
— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2023
Moreover, Funkmaster is also one of those fighters who is very active on social media and does not shy away from replying to his haters. In the world of combat sports, it has been seen numerous times that situations like these have led to high PPV sales. One more reason why this fight has the potential to become the UFC champion’s most profitable fight is his opponent.
Sean O’Malley is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC currently and also has a huge social media following. He has his own YouTube channel, hosts a podcast, and frequently appears on other popular shows as well. The point is that, apart from being top-class fighters, they enjoy huge popularity in their own ways.
Sean O’Malley will not be getting a PPV share for the Aljamain Sterling fight
Sugar Sean recently appeared on the MMA Hour and told Ariel Helwani that he was positive about his fight with Sterling selling more PPVs than the latter’s fight with Cejudo. Reportedly, the bantamweight champion’s last fight got 700,000 PPV buys.
O’Malley further said that he did not necessarily have to sell the fight as he would not be getting a share of the PPV sales as the champion gets the PPV points.
“It sucks because the champ gets the PPV points; I wasn’t able to get that on my terms,” O’Malley continued. “If I do get that, maybe I’ll try to push it a little more. But at the end of the day, I want it to do really well. Aljo’s going to send me a little percentage of it.” said O’Malley
Sean O’Malley believes his fight with Aljamain Sterling will do twice the amount of PPV buys that Sterling/Cejudo did.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/yRTHg1cnzc
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 8, 2023
The host, Ariel Helwani, was shocked to hear that O’Malley, being such a popular fighter, was blocked from getting PPV points. However, O’Malley was fine with it, as he expressed that it has something to do with his new contract and he was getting paid handsomely anyway.
UFC 292, scheduled to happen on August 19, is the promotion’s 10th PPV event this year. Can Sterling and O’Malley make it a big one for the boss, Dana White? Tell us in the comments!