BOSTON: Sean O’Malley became the new bantamweight champion yesterday night by knocking out Aljamain Sterling during the main event at UFC 292 in Boston.
O’Malley (17-1-0) used a vicious right hook to Sterling’s face to send the defending champion to the mat, where O’Malley then used a barrage of punches to end the bout just 51 seconds into the second round.
It was the fifth victory for O’Malley in his last six UFC fights. He settled for a no-contest on July 2, 2022, after accidentally poking Pedro Munhoz in the eye.
Sterling saw a nine-fight winning streak come to an end.
Zhang Weili (24-3-0) beat Amanda Lemos (13-3-1) by unanimous decision to defend her women’s strawweight title. The cards read 50-43, 50-44, 49-45 in favour of Weili.
Ian Garry (13-0-0), Mario Bautista (13-2-0), and Marlon Vera (21-8-1) also won their fights by unanimous decisions yesterday.