In case you were not aware, UFC 292 is taking place at Boston’s TD Garden next Saturday and the main event is wildly expected. The banthamweight division has a title fight between the champion Aljemain Sterling vs Suga Sean O’Malley. A bout that also has a second title fight in the women’s division between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos. But the big event of the evening will be between Sean and Sterling. Suga is known for his precise striking and plasticity as he moves inside the octagon. But he has been honing some important grappling skills by winning actual jiu jitsu tournaments with no-gi on. He decided to get into this tournament last week and defeated a major opponent in the tournament.
Sean O’Malley beats Japanese legend in BJJ contest, shows he can grapple
Who did Sean O’Malley beat in a BJJ competition?
Champion Aljemain Sterling has an evident grappling advantage, he is the best in the world at banthanweight. In this tournament Sean O’Malley enlisted, he submitted Japanese legendary fighter Tanakori Gomi with a guillotine choke. The match only lasted three minutes into the first round as Sean left his mark. It makes sense O’Malley decided to compete with no-gi due to the little clothing fighters use in the UFC. O’Malley has been making the rounds in the media and Sterling has also remained respectful during their interations with the microphones. Suga Sean actually spoke earlier on Wednesday with ESPN’s ‘First Take’ show hosts.
Here’s what Sean O’Malley told ESPN about his strategy to counter Aljemains Sterling’s elite grappling: “Pretty much every fight we go into, we assume the game plan for the opponent is to take me down, put me on my back. That’s kind of how I’ve been training my entire career. Obviously Aljamain is the best in the world at that, so pretty much just doing what we’ve always done. Witht he awareness that this dude is very legitimate. I haven’t said anything negative about his skills, ever. I know how good he is, I understand the challenge at hand. With that being said. I do believe I will land the shot to knock him out before he is able to get a hold of me.”
