Sean O'Malley KOs Aljamain Sterling to secure bantamweight belt

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Oct 22, 2022; Abu Dhabi, UAE;  Sean O'Malley (blue gloves) before his fight against Petr Yan (red gloveS) during UFC 280 at Etihad Arena.
Oct 22, 2022; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sean O'Malley (blue gloves) before his fight against Petr Yan (red gloveS) during UFC 280 at Etihad Arena.
Image: Craig Kidwell-USA TODAY Sports

Sean O'Malley became the new bantamweight champion on Saturday night by knocking out Aljamain Sterling during the main event at UFC 292 in Boston.

O'Malley (17-1-0) used a vicious right hook to Sterling's face to send the defending champ to the mat, where O'Malley then used a barrage of punches to end the bout just 51 seconds into the second round.

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It was the fifth victory for O'Malley over his last six UFC fights. He settled for a no-contest on July 2, 2022, after accidentally poking Pedro Munhoz in the eye.

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Sterling saw a nine-fight winning streak come to an end.

Zhang Weili (24-3-0) beat Amanda Lemos (13-3-1) by unanimous decision to defend her women's strawweight title. The cards read 50-43, 50-44, 49-45 in favor of Weili.

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Ian Garry (13-0-0), Mario Bautista (13-2-0) and Marlon Vera (21-8-1) also won their fights by unanimous decision on Saturday.

—Field Level Media