BOSTON — Sean O’Malley climbed out of the Octagon, unfold his palms huge and took a lager from a fan. He chugged it because the TD Field rocked with cheering enthusiasts.

The UFC has a pristine celebrity. Welcome to the “Suga” year.

O’Malley, the Gen Z pink-braided, tattooed striker, sniped Aljamain Sterling with a right-hand counter to win the UFC bantamweight name in the principle match of UFC 292 on Saturday. The TKO end got here at 51 seconds of the second one around.

“It only takes one mistake against me,” O’Malley stated. “I don’t even know if that was a mistake. I’m just that f—ing good.”

Sterling waded in with moves, O’Malley parried, took a step again and landed a great counter precise on Sterling’s jaw. Sterling dropped to the canvas, and O’Malley adopted up with a number of punches at the garden till the struggle used to be blocked.

ESPN had Sterling ranked Incorrect. 7 on its pound-for-pound MMA listing coming in. At bantamweight, Sterling used to be ranked Incorrect. 1 and O’Malley Incorrect. 4.

“Honestly, this was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a fight,” O’Malley stated. “In my eyes, Aljamain Sterling is the best bantamweight of all time. … I was nervous, but I possess this f—ing right hand, baby.”

O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) is unbeaten in six instantly. The Montana-born fighter who fights out of Arizona is 9-1 (1 NC) within the UFC. O’Malley, 28, has only one profession loss, in opposition to Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 252 in August 2020, even though he doesn’t believe it a defeat as a result of he suffered a leg trauma all over the bout. O’Malley used to be coming off a win over former champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 endmost October.

In his postfight interview, O’Malley referred to as for a rematch with Vera at UFC 296 in December. Vera beat Pedro Munhoz at the UFC 292 undercard.

“This is just the beginning of the ‘Suga’ era,” O’Malley stated. “I’m running this s— until 2035, baby.”

Sterling (23-3) had gained 9 a row, the longest successful streak ever within the UFC bantamweight section, coming in. The Untouched York local had 3 a success name defenses, connect for essentially the most ever in section historical past. A win Saturday would have put him forward of each Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw, who each and every had 3 name defenses over two reigns. Sterling, 34, had no longer misplaced in six years and has been champion since 2021.

“I’ve lost before,” Sterling stated. “I’ve been knocked out before. I’ve picked myself up and become UFC champion. Don’t be surprised if you see me back here again.”

Sterling stated sooner than the struggle that he would travel as much as featherweight whether or not he gained or misplaced at UFC 292. He stated in his postfight interview that he must re-examine issues now.

“If [O’Malley] caught me like that, I could only imagine what [UFC featherweight champion Alexander] Volkanovski would do to me,” Sterling stated.