Six weeks before the biggest fight of his UFC career, Sean O’Malley suffered a rib injury.
‘Sugar’ stepped inside the Octagon on August 19, 2023, for his first crack at UFC gold, squaring off with then-bantamweight world champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in Boston, Mass. Less than a minute into the second round, O’Malley delivered a picture-perfect counter right that sent the ‘Funk Master’ crashing to the canvas. A few follow-up shots later and we had ourselves a new 135-pound king.
Following the fight, O’Malley revealed that he had sustained a rib injury while training that prevented him from grappling for the final month and a half of his fight camp.