UFC Boss Dana White regrets O'Malley-Sterling cage faceoff; Reveals their fight timeline

Dana White, the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has expressed regret over allowing Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley to have a faceoff at UFC 288, admitting it was a mistake. The incident took place during the UFC 288 fight between Sterling and Henry Cejudo. White allowed O’Malley to enter the Octagon after Sterling called out his opponent following a successful title defense against Cejudo. 

Sterling and O’Malley had a heated exchange inside the ring, where the number 2 bantamweight fighter even took his jacket off, which was picked up by Merab Dvalishvili, leading to a confrontation between the two fighters. Reflecting on the incident, White has admitted that he should not have allowed O’Malley to enter the cage, as it resulted in a chaotic scene. It remains to be seen if they would take any disciplinary action over the altercation.

Despite Dana White admitting it was not a good idea for Sean O’Malley to enter the cage and face off against Aljamain Sterling after the latter’s win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, the incident has added hype and intrigue to their upcoming title fight. 

Also Read: Henry Cejudo On Verge Of Retiring Again After Aljamain Sterling Wins At UFC 288

Dana White reveals O'Malley-Sterling fight timeline

Meanwhile, White made an exception by announcing the date and location of the next bantamweight title fight immediately after the closure of UFC 288 on Saturday. The UFC Boss revealed that the title fight between current champion Aljamain Sterling and next title challenger Sean O’Malley would probably take place in August. Although the targeted event is UFC 292, which would take place on August 19 in Boston, White did not confirm the exact date.

Sterling, who expressed his desire to return in September, was unhappy with the possibility of another east coast fight. In an interview with TSN, he jokingly expressed his displeasure with fighting in Boston and his desire to compete in Las Vegas instead. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that O’Malley would be a crowd favorite in Boston since a large Irish community resides there.

Also Read: UFC 288 Results: Aljamain Sterling Retains Bantamweight Title, Beats Henry Cejudo

Sterling, who is currently driving a nine-fight winning streak, won the bantamweight title via disqualification against Petr Yan, then defended it against Yan and T.J. Dillashaw. In his most recent fight, he defeated Henry Cejudo via a split decision. On the flipside, O’Malley is currently 4-0 with one no-contest in his last five fights and has won 12 of his 16 professional fights by stoppage.

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