Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley isn't sure what beating Kevin Vallejos would do for Aljamain Sterling.
Former champ Sterling (26-5 MMA, 18-5 UFC) takes on Vallejos (18-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 294 on Nov. 21 from ABHA Arena in Doha (Paramount+
). O'Malley, who ended Sterling's bantamweight title reign, praised "The Funkmaster" for taking on another rising contender after he defeated Youssef Zalal at UFC Fight Night 274."This is a big fight, this is a risky fight, this is a tough fight," O'Malley said on his "The SuGuru Show." "This kid he's fighting is good. I haven't watched a ton of him, but when I have watched a little bit of him, I'm like, this kid's good. He's got real f*cking potential. You've got to give it up
to Aljo. He's willing to fight. I think he was calling out – whatever happened to the Jean Silva, that fight would have been sick. That's a big fight."
Sterling initially called out Jean Silva, which would have likely been a No. 1 contender bout. However, O'Malley thinks fighting Vallejos won't have the same stakes for his former foe.
"Aljamain Sterling, what else has he got to do?" O'Malley said. "He goes out there, and he beats No. 10, it doesn't look like, 'OK, now you give him a title shot.' You've got Lerone Murphy right there, you've got Aaron Pico fighting on the UFC 333 card, which is a big fight in the division. I'm curious. I'm going to predict Aljo gets the decision, a beautiful dominant decision."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean O'Malley credits Aljamain Sterling for taking 'risky' Kevin Vallejos fight
