John
Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration
“The Sugar Show” has officially arrived.
With one perfectly-timed right hand, Sean O’Malley delivered on his
considerable hype at UFC
292 , as he stopped Aljamain
Sterling via technical knockout 51 seconds into Round 2 of
Saturday’s headliner at the TD Garden in Boston. With the victory,
O’Malley assumes the No. 1 position at bantamweight, but in a
loaded division, he’ll have a cadre of worthy contenders breathing
down his neck.
Meanwhile, Weili Zhang
solidified her No. 1 ranking at strawweight with a lopsided
beatdown of Amanda
Lemos in the UFC 292 co-main event. “Magnum” has rebounded
nicely from back-to-back losses against Rose
Namajunas in 2021, and now owns four victories in championship
bouts during her promotional tenure.
Elsewhere, Marlon Vera
remained relevant at 135 pounds with a decision victory over
replacement opponent Pedro
Munhoz on the UFC 292 main card. With Jose Aldo
exiting the bantamweight poll due to retirement, Vera climbs from
11th to 10th in the bantamweight poll — and a rematch with O’Malley
could be in his future. In other action, Larissa
Pacheco maintained her No. 5 ranking at women’s featherweight
with a 14-second blowout of Olena
Kolesnyk in the PFL playoffs, and Ian Garry
debuts in the welterweight rankings at No. 15 after picking apart
Neil
Magny on the UFC 292 main draw.
Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.
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