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TMZSports.com
The bantamweights are anchoring UFC 292 Saturday night — with Aljamain Sterling and rival “Suga” Sean O’Malley fighting — and the greatest 135er of all-time is breaking down the matchup!
“You’re looking at pure dominance in grappling as a specialist or a knockout artist in Sean O’Malley, so that’s a fun fight,” UFC legend Dominick Cruz told Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).
“There’s no way that this can’t be fun!”
To make the fight even better, outside of the guy’s incredible talents, there’s also been a lot of trash talk.
“Especially because of the talking on the line. All the things O’Malley is saying, ‘You’re not gonna be able to hold me down. I’m gonna knock you down first,'” Dom explained.
“Well, now he has to prove that, we’ve all heard it. And Sterling has to prove he can get in there and not get knocked out. I mean they’ve all talked so much, that’s what builds this thing. That’s what makes this fun, and gets me excited about it.”
Of course, 34-year-old Sterling is the champion, and 28-year-old O’Malley is the #2 contender, behind Merab Dvalishvili. Aljo and Suga have been talking trash to each other for years.
Sterling is in the midst of a 9-fight win streak and has beaten the likes of Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen. Some of the best fighters in the world.
Sean has only lost once in his career — to Marlon “Chito” Vera in 2020 — and last defeated Yan.
We also asked Dom about his future. He’s injured, but not retired … not at all. In fact, Cruz is still the 9th-ranked bantamweight and is eyeing another run at the belt once he gets healthy.
UFC 292 goes down Saturday in Beantown!