Sean O'Malley admits he has a 'weird addiction' to being the underdog and is relishing chance to 'prove people wrong' in UFC 292 title showdown with Aljamain Sterling Sean O'Malley takes on Aljamain Sterling in the main event of UFC 292 He arrives as a significant underdog but says he is relishing that status 'Sugar' said: 'It gets me excited. I want to go out there and prove people wrong' By Will Griffee For Mailonline Published: 08:28, 15 August 2023 | Updated: 08:28, 15 August 2023 e-mail View comments Sean O'Malley has a 'weird addiction' to being the underdog, which should suit him this weekend at UFC 292 against Aljamain Sterling. 'Sugar' arrives at the main event expected to lose, with Sterling having proven himself a formidable champion, most recently with his points win over Henry Cejudo. 'Aljamain Sterling is the best bantamweight the UFC has ever known,' O'Malley told ESPN. 'He's in his prime. He's 33, I think – that's pretty much prime age. All the male UFC champions are in their 30s. He's the best grappler in the division. I'm a striker. This is a striker vs. grappler matchup, so it's exciting. He added: 'It gets me excited. I want to go out there and prove people wrong. The last fight, everyone thought I was going to lose that fight. Sean O'Malley (left) takes on Aljamain Sterling (right) at UFC 292 this weekend 'Then when I won the fight, it just made people so mad. I liked that. For whatever reason, I liked that. So for me to go out there and be a huge underdog again against Aljamain, it's a weird addiction.' Sky Bet have O'Malley as a 2/1 underdog, with Sterling the 4/11 favourite for the headliner at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Both men have fought Petr Yan and O'Malley reflected on that match-up and how he's been preparing to face Saturday's opponent. 'Aljamain beat Petr in their last fight,' O'Malley said. 'I looked at the Petr fight. I made a mistake. 'I did not expect him to wrestle or shoot at all. I train grappling all the time – in camp, we grapple. 'But for this fight, we know he's going to shoot, so we've got to have a game plan around that, whereas the Petr fight, it was more of a kickboxing camp. 'Wrestler vs. grappler (striker), most people pick the wrestlers – so this fight for sure (is like that).' O'Malley and Sterling top the card, with a women's strawweight clash in the co-main event for the title between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos. Elsewhere, Ireland's Ian Garry faces a test of his credentials against the always-game Neil Magny in a welterweight clash. Sterling is the favourite to defend his title and says he will then move up a division Share or comment on this article: Sean O'Malley admits he has a 'weird addiction' to being the underdog and is relishing chance to 'prove people wrong' in UFC 292 title showdown with Aljamain Sterling e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. Add your comment Enter your comment By posting your comment you agree to our house rules . Submit Comment Clear Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. No Yes Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy .