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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 292: Sterling vs O'Malley
We're Back In Boston With A Super-Stacked Pay-Per-View. Let's Break It Down.
By E. Spencer Kyte, on Twitter @spencerkyte
For the seventh time overall and first time since October 2019, the UFC is shipping up to Boston, and this time, the organization is bringing a loaded pay-per-view fight card.
Headlined by a pair of intriguing championship matchups and supported by this season’s Ultimate Fighter tournament finals and a number of competitive, important matchups across multiple divisions, UFC 292 ranks up there as one of the best PPV lineups of the year thus far.
The tight 12-fight card should come out of the gates firing on all cylinders and continue running hot right through to the tandem title bouts that close out the show.
In order to get you prepared for what’s coming your way this weekend, we present the UFC 292 Fight-By-Fight Preview.
Main Event: Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley
Just a few months after standing face-to-face in the Octagon setting up this matchup, Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley will battle for the bantamweight title in the UFC 292 main event.
All Sterling has done over the last six years is post nine consecutive victories over ranked opponents, including winning and successfully defending the bantamweight title three times. He’s bested three former champions in a row, holds a first-round submission victory over perennial contender Cory Sandhagen, and is 23-3 overall.
The 28-year-old O’Malley has felt destined to fight for championship gold since emerging as the breakout star from the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). “Sugar” is coming off a split decision win over former titleholder Petr Yan at UFC 280 last October, and sports a 16-1 record with one no contest.
This is a classic style clash between the grappler Sterling and the striker O’Malley, while also pitting an under-appreciated champion that has proven himself against the top competition in the division against a wildly popular challenger with an impressive highlight reel, but limited experience against the top names in the 135-pound ranks. Something has got to give on Saturday night, as either Sterling will continue to make his case for being the greatest bantamweight in UFC history or O’Malley will prove what he’s said all along — that he’s the best fighter in the division.
In the immortal words of Bart Scott, “Can’t Wait!”
Co-Main Event: Zhang Weili vs Amanda Lemos
The co-main event sees the strawweight title up for grabs as champion Zhang Weili begins her second reign atop the division by facing off with Brazilian finisher Amanda Lemos.
Zhang rebounded from her twin losses to Rose Namajunas in 2021 with consecutive second-round stoppage wins last year, first dispatching Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275 before mauling Carla Esparza to reclaim the title at UFC 281 in November. The 33-year-old Chinese standout has continued to add elements to her arsenal and sharpen her skills over the last several years, and once again looks capable of embarking on a lengthy run as the ruler of the 115-pound weight class.
After having her five-fight winning streak snapped by former champ Jessica Andrade last April, Lemos bounced back with a pair of finishes of her own to solidify her standing as one of the top contenders in the division. In July, the heavy-handed 36-year-old submitted Michelle Waterson-Gomez and then a week prior to Zhang’s title win at Madison Square Garden, she stopped compatriot Marina Rodriguez with a barrage of strikes early in the third round of their main event pairing.
While the dynamics of the main event seem clear, things are less straightforward in the co-main event, which ratchets up the intrigue factor.
Zhang has always profiled as one of the best athletes and strongest competitors in the division, but Lemos could very well be the stronger of the two, and the one brandishing more one-shot power. Each has looked unstoppable at times, but also have recent setbacks that make you question how the other will approach this contest, leaving you with the kind of exciting uncertainty that makes championship matchups so fascinating.
Other Main Card Fights
Neil Magny vs Ian Machado Garry
The man with the most victories in the history of the welterweight division steps in on short notice to face off with one of its most exciting prospects, as Neil Magny takes on Ian Machado Garry on this week’s pay-per-view main card.
Magny, who steps in for Geoff Neal, has built an incredible career competing in fights like this — serving as the final “entrance exam” hopefuls need to pass in order to advance further up the welterweight ranks. In the last two years, he’s turned back Max Griffin, Daniel Rodriguez and, most recently, Phil Rowe, and will look to do the same to the ascending Irishman this weekend.
The 25-year-old Garry has already posted a pair of stoppage wins in 2023, rallying to beat Song Kenan in March before blazing through Rodriguez in May, and operates with the confidence of a man convinced he’s the best fighter on the planet. This is his toughest test to date and ultimately the fight he asked for following his victory over Rodriguez, so now it’s time to see if “The Future” is ready to be a present-day contender.
Will Magny dash the hopes of another promising, ascending talent or will the undefeated rising star continue his relentless march towards the top of the division?
Marlon Vera vs Pedro Munhoz
Saturday’s main card is a showcase of the depth of talent in the bantamweight division, and it kicks off with a potential barnburner between Marlon “Chito” Vera and Pedro Munhoz.
Currently stationed at No. 6 in the rankings, Vera arrives in Boston looking to get back into the win column after his four-fight winning streak was halted by Sandhagen in March. Vera has always been patient, confident to seek out big shots that can shift the tides, but after getting thoroughly out-worked earlier this year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him come out more aggressively here.
Munhoz has been the bantamweight version of Magny for the last several years, minus the insane appearance schedule. He’s shared the Octagon with a who’s who of ranked competition over the years, including facing both members of the championship main event, and enters off an “I’m Still Here” type performance against Chris Gutierrez in April that halted “El Guapo’s” eight-fight unbeaten streak.
Can Vera show more urgency and rebound with another Top 10 victory or does Munhoz earn a second straight win over a Top 15 opponent and continue a push forward in the rankings?
Prelim Fights
Chris Weidman vs Brad Tavares
Former middleweight champ Chris Weidman makes his return to the Octagon in a clash with divisional mainstay Brad Tavares in the final preliminary card fight of the evening.
Saturday marks Weidman’s first appearance since he suffered a broken leg just 17 seconds into his fight with Uriah Hall at UFC 261, while Tavares looks to snap a two-fight slide and finally register his 20th professional victory. As two of the longest tenured fighters in the middleweight division, it’ll be interesting to see which one is able to find success and keep moving forward and who will be forced to deal with the bitter taste of defeat once more.
Austin Hubbard vs Kurt Holobaugh
It’s a Team Chandler showdown in the Ultimate Fighter lightweight tournament finale as UFC veterans Austin Hubbard and Kurt Holobaugh go head-to-head for all the marbles.
Hubbard went 3-4 in his initial stint in the UFC before earning a pair of wins on the regional circuit and impressing with devision victories over Aaron McKenzie and Roosevelt Roberts to reach tonight’s finale. Holobaugh had a one-off appearance in the UFC early in his career and then went 0-3 following a win on the inaugural episode of Dana White’s Contender Series. He’s since earned four straight stoppage wins — two on the regional scene and two more in the competition — to land opposite Hubbard.
Brad Katona vs Cody Gibson
Brad Katona looks to make history as the first competitor to win The Ultimate Fighter twice, but Cody Gibson has his own plans for winning the bantamweight competition and becoming an Ultimate Fighter winner this weekend.
The 31-year-old Katona won the featherweight tournament on Season 27 of the long-running reality TV competition. He went 1-2 in his first UFC run, but has been unbeaten since, posting four wins under the Brave CF banner before besting Carlos Vera and Timur Valiev to reach the finals. Gibson went 1-3 during his first UFC stint, and 7-2 prior to entering the competition and turning back Team McGregor’s Mando Gutierrez and Rico DiSciullo en route to landing opposite Katona this weekend in Beantown.
Gregory Rodrigues vs Denis Tiuliulin
Originally scheduled to face off in late June, middleweight finishers Gregory Rodrigues and Denis Tiuliulin instead share the Octagon with one another this weekend in Boston.
“Robocop” has gone 4-2 through his first six UFC appearances, registering three finishes and three post-fight bonuses, but enters off a knockout loss at home in Brazil earlier this year. Tiuliulin has alternated wins and losses over his last six outings, with his last two setbacks coming by submission since matriculating to the biggest stage in the sport.
Andre Petroski vs Gerald Meerschaert
TUF alum Andre Petroski and Gerald Meerschaert face off in what could be a fascinating matchup between dangerous middleweight grapplers.
Petroski arrives having earned victories in all four of his UFC appearances since a semifinal run on Season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter. A 51-fight veteran coming off a loss to Petroski’s teammate, Joe Pyfer, Meerschaert looks to bounce back by delivering the kind of performance that produced submission wins over the likes of Bruno Silva and Makhmud Muradov.
Andrea Lee vs Natalia Silva
Andrea Lee and Natalia Silva meet in a fascinating flyweight clash on Saturday’s UFC 292 prelims.
The 34-year-old Lee makes her 10th UFC start this weekend, and while she’s just 5-4 inside the Octagon, a trio of debatable split decision losses undermine just how competitive and dangerous “KGB” is in the cage. Silva arrives in Boston with a 3-0 record in the UFC and riding a nine-fight winning streak overall, the last of which came earlier this year over Victoria Leonardo in a fight where Lee was in her opponent’s corner.
Karine Silva vs Maryna Moroz
Nine years after facing off in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the early days of their careers, Karine Silva and Maryna Moroz meet for a second time to open this weekend’s fight card at TD Garden.
Silva earned a UFC contract with a second-round stoppage win on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and has upped the ante since arriving on the big stage, posting consecutive first-round submission wins to run her winning streak to seven. Moroz, who won the initial encounter between these two by armbar in the opening stanza, looks to get back into the win column after having her three-fight winning streak halted by Jennifer Maia last November.
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