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While many (ok most all) UFC fans are busy celebrating Sugar Sean O’Malley’s huge win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292, it comes at a cost for hardcore fans who will likely never see a dream match we’ve long been awaiting.
Alexander Volkanovski wanted a super fight against Aljamain Sterling
The UFC lightweight champ, and possibly the PBP kin,g Alexander Volkanovski is mourning a lost earning opportunity for a super fight against Sterling (transcribed by MMA Mania).
“Gotta feel for ‘Aljo,’ man. I mean, what does he want to do? He’s definitely going to want that rematch,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “That’s a big, big fight. [Him vs. me] that’s not happening. You never know, if he would have had a big win he could have took Ilia [Topuria’s] spot but [he didn’t]. What’s next for me? ‘Aljo,’ if he was to win in world fashion and called his shot he could have stepped in front of Ilia. Ilia’s been pretty quiet. I thought he’d be chirping, wanting to make sure he gets that fight. Obviously, I want to fight as soon as possible.”
Aljamain Sterling talked the talk re: Volkanovski
The former UFC bantamweight champ had certainly done his part of hype up a potential cross-division super fight against the lightweight champ Alexander “the Great” Volkanovski, telling Fox Sports:
“Volk is nimble on his feet; a strong, explosive guy who used to walk around at 200 pounds playing rugby. He was short and dense, now he fights at featherweight — and I imagine he would keep some of that residual strength with him,” Sterling said.
“But I like to think I’m strong for my frame as well. A lot of guys tell me that, even guys who are 200-plus pounds that I grapple with,” said the now ex-champ. “So I think it would be very interesting to see how we match up in that strength department.
“See how he does with a guy who moves just as well as him on the feet, is just as quick and fast twitch, and with the same reach as well. That’s the intriguing part for me,” he added.
“I don’t necessarily know how the fight would go, but I know if he’s getting taken down by some of these other guys, I would imagine that if I get him down and get his back … just from that fight with Makhachev, I’m doing a lot more damage there than he did.
“Maybe Makhachev was tired, or something from his weight cut affected him, I don’t know,” Sterling continued. “But from what I saw, I think I would be more accurate, and have more threats with armbars, kimuras, head and arm chokes from back mount …”
Why there likely won’t be an O’Malley – Volkanovski super fight anytime soon
As we posted after UFC 290, Volkanovski has some serious contenders to deal with in the featherweight division and he already tried and failed to move up and take the lightweight title from Islam Makhachev. BUT — and this is one of those mighty big buts — fan interest in those fights is fairly limited and it was more likely than not that the UFC would be open to a super fight pitting Sterling vs Volkanovski against each other.
That’s not the case with Sugar Sean O’Malley, a star so hot that the UFC is violating its cardinal rule of online fight promotion and already giving away the full video stream of his spectacular UFC 292 win.
O’Malley is also one of those spectacular strikers that fans love to watch, Endeavor loves to promote and who must be booked very carefully against the murderer’s row of bantamweight grapplers.
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