The title bout, headlining UFC 292 in Boston, ended early in the second round after Sterling was knocked out after missing a right kick while trying to close in on his opponent, and O’Malley prevented the champion from getting back into the fight by finishing him in the parterre.
In a post-fight interview, Sean O’Malley stated that his era was just beginning, and said that he was ready to make his title defense in December against Marlon Vera, who had defeated Pedro Munoz by unanimous decision in the main card.
In the co-main event, reigning UFC featherweight champion Weili Zhang made a successful defense of her title, defeating Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision.
After confidently taking the first three rounds due to an advantage in wrestling technique, the Chinese woman took a break in the fourth five minutes, allowing the Brazilian to prove herself, however, in the final segment of the match, the champion once again dominated her opponent and sent her to a knockdown, eventually winning the fight by scores of 50-43, 50-44 and 49-45.
In the third main event of the tournament, undefeated Irish welterweight Ian Machado Garry earned his sixth UFC victory with a 30-24 and 30-26 double unanimous decision win over American Neil Magny.
The preliminary card determined the finalists for the thirty-first season of TUF’s lightweight and flyweight divisions, which were Kurt Holobaugh and Brad Katona. Holobaugh finished Austin Hubbard by triangle choke in the second round, while Katona won by unanimous decision over Cody Gibson.
Other results from the event included a disappointing performance by Russian middleweight Denis Tyulyulin, who lost by technical knockout to Brazilian Gregory Rodriguez in the first round, as well as a loss to former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who returned to the octagon after suffering a severe leg fracture and lost by unanimous decision to Brad Tavares.
Another author of an early victory was Brazilian Karin Silva, who finished Ukraine’s Marina Moroz with a guillotine choke choke of Ukraine’s Marina Moroz in the first fight of the number show with one second left in the opening round.
All results from UFC 292.