Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch weighs in on early stoppage controversy at UFC 292 

Sean O’Malley was recently crowned the new bantamweight king after defeating Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. O’Malley secured a second-round TKO to claim the 135-pound title and end Sterling’s nine-fight unbeaten streak. 

After a close first round, which was scored in favor of Sterling, ‘Suga’ turned things around in the second. In the second screen, the ‘Funk Master’ shot a left hand that O’Malley smartly countered with a hard right that sent Sterling crashing to the canvas. A follow-up barrage of shots by O’Malley forced the referee to step in and end the contest at round two’s 51-second mark.  

In the aftermath of the fight, many claimed that the referee stepped in too early and that Aljamain Sterling wasn’t down and out completely. However, Sean O’Malley’s longtime friend and coach Tim Welch believes the referee made the right decision. 

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Welch weighed in on the controversy and claimed:

“Once I talked to Aljo in the cage, I could see he wasn’t all there. His eyes weren’t all there. Sean said he saw his eyes roll back a couple times when he was bouncing his head off the canvas. He was bloodied up. It was a good stoppage.”

Watch the full video below:

Sean O’Malley open to moving up to featherweight on one condition

Sean O’Malley recently weighed in on possibly moving up to the featherweight division. Fresh off a title win against Aljamain Sterling, ‘Suga’ has earned the right to make bold future plans. However, the 28-year-old is aware of featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski’s dominance and wants to steer clear of him at all costs. 

While top bantamweights like Sterling have expressed confidence in beating Volkanovski, O’Malley wants to be more careful. In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, ‘Suga’ spoke about the possibility of fighting ‘The Great’ and said:

“Like, dude, chill. Let’s be realistic here. I ain’t f****** calling for Volk.”

Tim Welch jumped in and pointed out that Aljamain Sterling’s size advantage at featherweight could possibly give him a chance against Alexander Volkanovski. O’Malley agreed and claimed that he’d rather fight Ilia Topuria than Volkanovski at featherweight. He stated:

“It could be a sweet fight. I was talking sh*t. That was my little way of talking sh*t. Like, come on, you don’t wanna fight him, Aljo. But if Ilia goes up there and beats Volk, I’d go up to 45 and fight Ilia. I just don’t think Ilia would beat Volk.”

Watch the full video below: