Sean O’Malley becomes bantanweight king after stunning KO

The UFC has a new king after Sean O’Malley delivered an out of this world punch that left the former champion flat on his face.

Sean O’Malley is on top of the world after delivering a knockout performance in his first title fight appearance.

With the Boston crowd behind him the bantamweight challenger sent the former champ Aljamain Sterling sprawling on the canvas with one monster punch.

UFC 292 | SUN AUG 20: UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will look to cement himself as one of the greatest bantamweight’s in UFC history as he faces Sean O’Malley. ORDER ON MAIN EVENT ON KAYO SPORTS >

As Sterling lunged in trying to force the pace, O’Malley lent back to avoid the punch as he cocked his right hand and sent it straight down the barrel onto the chin of Sterling.

He jumped on his rival and rained hellfire before the referee jumped in to stop the fight

The title fight thriller came after strawweight champ Zhang Weili dominanted Amanda Lemos to retain her title.

3pm - ‘Holy sh*t’: O’Malley stuns the world

Suga Sean O’Malley has pulled off the stunning upset with one hellacious right hand doing the job against the champ.

Aljamain Sterling lost his cool as he looked to pounce after stunning his rival early in the second, but O’Malley kept his composure and launched a nuclear right straight down the barrel that sent Sterling falling face first onto the canvas.

HOLY SHIT! THE SUGA SHOW HAS ARRIVED!!! #UFC292

— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) August 20, 2023

Sean O’Malley does it!

He TKOs Aljo in the second.

Oh my word.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 20, 2023

THAT RIGHT HAND 🥶 #UFC292pic.twitter.com/vMyqwWkHw6

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 20, 2023

R1: The Boston crowd is firmly behind Sean O’Malley as chants of “F*** you Aljo” rang out during the opening minutes. The two fighters spent the bulk of the opening round feeling each other out as they danced around the centre of the Octagon. The occassion hasn’t got to O’Malley like many thought it may. Neither fighter really did anything in the opener until the champ rushed in late. Sterling 10-9.

R2: Sterling got the jump on his rival but in the blink of an eye O’Malley stunned the champ with a hellacious counter right hand. Sterling fell backwards to the canvas and O’Malley pounced before the referee jumped in to wave it off and crown the new bantamweight king.

2.30pm - Champ makes history in dominant outing

Strawweight champ Zhang Weili has made history in a dominant defence of her crown at UFC 292 on Sunday.

Challenge Amanda Lemos found herself drowning in the deep waters of a championship fight as Weili had her way with her rival.

From the opening moments of the fight until the final bell it was one-sided dominant with Weili making history by recording the largest striking differential in a women’s UFC fight.

She outlanded her opponent with an absurd 288 strikes compared to only 21. She recorded just shy of 15 minutes of ground control, Lemos had zero.

Thanks for coming out Amanda Lemos #UFC292pic.twitter.com/rfnX4UC5d0

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 20, 2023

R1: Zhang Weili asserted her championship dominance over challenger Amanda Lemos in the opening round of their fight.

Weili took control early before Lemos pounced and looked to have deep choke locked in only for the champ to escape and take control of her back. 10-9 Zhang

R2: Lemos got the better of the action early as the two stayed on their feet, landing several hard right hands. Weili eventually got her hands on her rival and threw her to the canvas and began dominating on the ground. Lemos managed to get back to her feet but only seconds later she was dumped back on the canvas. 20-18 Zhang.

R3: Much of the same as the opening two rounds, Lemos looking better on the feet but the fight has spent the majority on the canvas with the champ absolutely dominanting the challenger.

Lemos was given no freedom to produce anything as Weili asserted her dominance on the fight. 30-27 Zhang.

R4: For three minutes Amanda Lemos was controlling the round as the two fighters stood in the middle of the octagon. Lemos landed the heavy shots but Weili responded by delivering another perfect takedown. 39-38 Zhang.

R5: She dominated the entire fight on the canvas but it was a monster right hand that landed on the button for Weili. The shot came out of nowhere and stunned Lemos as she fell to the mat as the champ leapt into action as she looked to finish the fight.

Incredibly Lemos survived the onslaught and got back to her feet, but Weili ragdolled her straight back down. 49-47 Zhang.

1.45pm - Irishman makes American look foolish

Ian Garry’s climb up the welterweight standings continued in Boston after he dominated 11th ranked American Neil Magny.

Garry sent Magny to the canvas in the early stages of the fight with an on point leg kick before doing the exact same later in the opening round.

The assault on Magny’s front leg continued as Garry’s right foot found it’s home every time he launched it.

Magny’s face writhed in agony after each and every kick as he did his best to hide his left leg from the onslaught.

The pair exchanged words at the end of the second round before Garry flipped his rival the bird.

Safe to say there's no love lost here 😅 #UFC292pic.twitter.com/sEtEF134yy

— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023

Garry continued the leg assault in the third and final round with Magny not able to put any weight on his left leg as the final buzzer sounded.

After the final buzzer Garry rubbed the head of his rival before fliping him off once again. The judges showed just how dominant his display was as two scored it 30-26 while the third had it 30-24.

12.30pm - UFC icon fumes over illegal blows

Daniel Cormier couldn’t believe his eyes when a fight on the UFC 292 undercard ended after a nasty knockout.

Gregory Rodrigues brutally knocked out Denis Tiuliulin in the opening round, but replays seemed to show one shot landed on the back of Tiuliulin’s head.

Rodrigues rained down hellacious elbows before the referee jumped in to bring the contest to an end.

But Cormier quickly lost his composure after the fight as the replays began to roll.

“That one looked behind the head,” Cormier said on commentary.

“From that angle, that looked a little behind the head.

“Uh, yeah Jon (Anik), that’s an illegal strike.

The former UFC champ said Tiuliulin would be well within his rights to protest the result.

“The reality is, it looked illegal,” Cormier said.

“From that angle, it was an illegal shot that started the finish.

“If I’m Dennis Tiuliulin and I’m going 1-3 in my UFC career, I’m protesting. It might save my job.”

🚨Early KO for Gregory Rodrigues with some nasty elbow shots!🚨 #UFC292pic.twitter.com/fCffp9x4dm

— NoSmokeSport (@NoSmokeSport) August 20, 2023

12pm - O’Malley stuns UFC with wild weight gain

Both O’Malley and Sterling weighed in at the bantamweight limit of 135lbs, but in the hours after they both packed on the pounds.

Sterling posted an update where he showed off his climbing weight ahead of his title defence, “144.4 and climbing” the champ wrote.

But it was O’Malley’s update that caught the eye of fight fans.

In a video posted to his personal Twitter account, O’Malley stepped onto the scales as the camera zoomed in on the weight which showed a staggering 157.4lbs.

The wild gain was quickly revealed as the camera panned out showing the bantamweight star holding a case of Happy Dad, an American seltzer.

One fan however quickly ran the numbers and worked out just how much O’Malley weighed with a staggering revelation.

“O’Malley weighed 157.4lbs while holding a 12 pack of happy dad. 157.4 – 9lbs (144fl oz) = 148.4lbs. So he went from 135lbs to 148.4lbs in just a few hours,” the fan wrote.

MAIN CARD (12pm AEST)

Sean O’Malley def Aljamain Sterling via KO in round 2

Zhang Weili (c) def Amanda Lemos via UD (50-43, 50-44, 50-45)

Ian Machado Garry v Neil Magny (30-26 x2, 30-24)

Mario Bautista def Da’Mon Blackshear via UD (30-27, 29-28 x2)

Marlon Vera def Pedro Munhoz via UD (30-27 x2, 29-28)

PRELIMS (10am AEST)

Brad Tavares def Chris Weidman via UD

Gregory Rodrigues def Denis Tiuliulin via KO in round 1

Kurt Holobaugh def Austin Hubbard via submission in Round 2

Brad Katona def Cody Gibson via UD (29-28 x 2, 30-27)

EARLY PRELIMS

Andre Petroski def Gerald Meerschaert via SD (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Natalia Silva def Andrea Lee via UD (30-27 x 3)

Karine Silva def Maryna Moroz via submission in Round 1