All eyes on The Suga Show

The biggest UFC superstar since Conor McGregor? The world is Sean O'Malley's oyster following his spectacular UFC 292 victory 

Image: Cooper Neill / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images

Sean O'Malley left all his cards on the table on Saturday night and banked on himself when it mattered. The pay-off was tremendous, ramifications of which may not be fully seen for years to come.

Enter the UFC's newest superstar. Having snuck through a baptism through fire against Petr Yan in Abu Dhabi last year, the UFC decided to finally pull the trigger and line him up for a shot at the world title. Sceptics wondered whether he was truly ready. Barring the Yan victory O'Malley had been largely untested and it wasn't too long ago since Marlon "Chito" Vera deadened his leg with calf kicks en route to a stoppage win in 2020. 

Odds were against the 28-year-old as he headlined Boston's TD Garden for 135-pound supremacy. And based on the momentum from Sterling, who could have blamed the bookmakers? "Funkmaster" was on a red hot nine-fight win streak having vanquished the likes of Yan, Henry Cejudo, TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen. His wrestling was unrivalled in the division while he had proven championship mettle time and time again. Meanwhile O'Malley was going into the first five-round fight of his professional career.

General consensus was that if Sterling was able to wrap around the wiry, lanky frame of the challenger then it was going to be a long night for "Suga". Sterling's acumen on the mat has been proven on countless occasions, and all he would need was one well-timed level change to take the fight into that realm. But despite applying pressure right off the bat in UFC 292's main event, Sterling was unable to close the distance to effectively execute that gameplan. The movement of the Montana native kept him off the fence wall and continuous changing of his lateral movement made it nearly impossible for Sterling to pin him down. Throwing in feints and stance switches only complexified the conundrum further. 

The good old "wrestler question" hasn't really surfaced since Conor McGregor's stratospheric rise almost a decade ago. But it is certainly back for O'Malley who was expected to be dragged into deep waters and backpacked by the champion. Instead, he would fend off a level change late in the first stanza and quickly scrambled to his feet after a slip in the second round - that would be the only grappling required this time round, before a stupendous counter right hand cleaned Sterling's clock as he lunged forward. Some further ground-and-pound was enough for Marc Goddard to wave off the contest.

O'Malley has made a habit of becoming a viral sensation, but the reaction to his title triumph has been off the charts. A man affiliated with the Paul brothers, the Nelk Boys and various other influencers is only going to rise his stock further. This has potential to be one of the most talked about moments in UFC history. 

Dana White would have been an extremely happy man this weekend knowing that the new cash cow had well and truly arrived. While a Conor McGregor-sized void still looms large over the sport as The Notorious' return remains a question, the UFC are trying to line up their superstars to carry the pay-per-view buys forward. Their business model relies on consistent quality that they are able to deliver, but needs those marquee names scattered throughout the year to really drive revenue. O'Malley can be one of those mega stars, a feat achieved seldom by even the best of fighters.

As conversation quickly turns to who O'Malley faces next, he certainly has his work cut out for him in the shark-infested waters of 135 pounds. It is a heavily stacked division with potentially nightmare matchups for the newly-minted titleholder. If Sterling decides to up sticks and move to featherweight, then his close friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili will be chomping at the bit to get his turn. He will be straight to the point with the wrestling and try to grind out O'Malley for five rounds which could make for tepid viewing, and don't be surprised if the UFC goes in another direction to avoid the O'Malley hype train converting to a damp squib in his first title defence. Cory Sandhagen also will wait his turn having put together a strong case, most recently with a not-so-thrilling decision win over Rob Font.

But O'Malley has made it clear who he wants next, the only man to beat him, "Chito" Vera. The Ecuadorian had a strong decision win over Pedro Munhoz to open the main card and he and O'Malley have been intertwined ever since they locked horns in an empty UFC Apex in the UFC 252 co-main event. 

O'Malley was flowing and enjoying success back in that fight until right leg was severely compromised thanks to a hard low kick that essentially rendered the limb unresponsive. O'Malley would stumble around the cage for the following moments, struggling to place weight while Vera smelled blood. One more stumble lead to some ground-and-pound for Herb Dean to step in. O'Malley has regarded that outcome a freak injury as oppose to a loss, but will now relish the chance to take that revenge in his first title defence in what would be a massive pay-per-view to end the year in Vegas.

With all due respect to Chito it is a much more favourable matchup than some of the other killers in the division who may opt to wrestle and grind out the new champion as oppose to strike with him at distance. O'Malley will relish the chance to exorcize those demons from 2020 and it will be another moment where he has to conquer a mountain that some may consider unconquerable. And as "Suga" has made a habit of, those are the events that sell tickets.

Two things are certain for O'Malley going forward: there will be even tougher challenges meaning the ride may not last that long, but for as long as it does, he will have the eyes of the world on him as perhaps the biggest UFC star since McGregor. It will take some doing to surpass the levels the Irishman reached, but with performances like that at UFC 292, he is heading in the right direction.