UFC 292 saw the rise of a new king of the men’s bantamweight division, when “Sugar” Sean O’Malley earned a TKO victory over previous champ Aljamain Sterling in the second round of the main event. Though both men looked a little cautious in their opening round, the second round gave O’Malley the opportunity to let his hands go. A hard counterpunch knocked the Funkmaster to the canvas, and O’Malley’s immediate followup left the former champ unable to fully recover before the ref called the fight.
Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Chinese MMA queen Zhang Weili looked as brutally dominant as she ever. Throughout a grueling five rounds, Zhang repeatedly took Brazilian challenger Amanda Lemos down to the canvas, where the defending champ terrorized her foe with a rain of vicious elbows. Though Lemos managed to survive the onslaught for all five rounds — and even locked up a D’arce choke attempt early in the fight — Zhang ultimately both outwrestled and outstruck the Brazilian to retain her belt.
Notably, over on the prelims side of the card, former champion Chris Weidman made his first, tentative-looking return to the Octagon after a gruesome leg break back in 2021. Though Weidman took a decision loss to a dominant-looking Brad Tavares, both men managed to go the distance, with Weidman surviving multiple leg kicks. Whether Weidman, age 39, will look for another shot a post-injury redemption in the cage remains to be seen.
THE FULL @SUGASEANMMA KNOCKOUT!
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
A right hand that will live on in UFC history at #UFC292! pic.twitter.com/jM5MkPTxqK
Full Main Card Results
Sean O’Malley def. Aljamain Sterlin (round 2, TKO)
Zhang Weili def. Amanda Lemons (unanimous decision)
Ian Garry def. Neil Magny (unanimous decision)
Mario Bautista def. Da’Mon Blackshear (unanimous decision)
Marlon Vera def. Pedro Munhoz (unanimous decision)
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