The Bantamweight division in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) officially entered the Sean O’Malley era at UFC 292 in August 2023.
O’Malley’s perfectly placed right hand to the chin of Aljamain Sterling early into round two (watch highlights) of their Boston, Massachusetts headliner sealed the deal for the Dana White’s Contender Series alum. “Sugar” has his first title defense lined up as he’ll rematch his lone successor, Marlon “Chito” Vera, atop UFC 299 in March 2024.
Unfortunately for some of the other top-ranked contenders in the division, Vera is leapfrogging them for the title shot at his No. 6 spot. Rising divisional prospect, Raul Rosas Jr., feels for the top contenders above Vera, which is evidence of some potential negatives to this new “O’Malley Era.” At the same time, O’Malley is a clear superstar in the promotion.
“I think it’s good for the division because it brings more attention to the division,” Rosas told MMA Junkie. “I know that he’s someone that, if we ever fight in the future, it’s a fight that would be huge in the division. I don’t know if it will ever happen because I think he’s looking for — like I don’t know if he’s going to defend his title much because I saw he was trying to fight Gervonta Davis and stuff like that, so I don’t know if he’s going to want to do other things.
“Also, the truth is that there are a lot of tough styles for him that are in title contention in my opinion: Merab [Dvalishvili] being one of them,” he continued. “So let’s see what happens. … Him being champion, in a way it’s bad for the division, for the guys that truly deserve to fight for the title. But at the same time, it’s also good for the division because he brings a lot of attention.”
In terms of star power, Rosas has been building at a relatively quick pace for his young age of 19. “El Nino Problema” made history as the youngest fighter in UFC history when he debuted at age 18 after earning a contract through the aforementioned Contender Series. With high hopes of his own, Rosas rebounded off his first career loss with an impressive 54-second knockout of Terrance Mitchell at Noche UFC in September 2023 (watch highlights).