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The UFC returned to one of the most ruckus fan environments — TD Garden in Boston. And we witnessed one of those truly great moments in the sport that we will look back upon and reminisce for years to come. A star

They bring a fairly decent card for a PPV event even after losing the likes of former champion Henry Cejudo and Cody Gardbrandt. The card will be headlined by two title fights: Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley for the Bantamweight title and Weili Zhang vs. Amanda Lemos for the Women’s Strawweight title. Both matchups are intriguing and bring a high excitement level to fight night. As always, we never know exactly how they will play out and will have to anxiously hold out breath until the octagon door slams shut. That’s the thrill of this game, the unexpected.

Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley

O’Malley is poised to become UFC’s next shining star. He has quickly risen the ranks and now finds himself competing for a title just five short years after winning TUF 26. On the other side of the octagon we have, in a sense, one of UFC’s most underrated fighters. That may not make sense to some given Sterling is the champion but I believe he still doesn’t garner the respect and recognition he truly deserves. He enters on a nine-fight win streak, successfully claiming and defending his title in his last four — although claiming the title came with some controversy after an illegal knee by Petr Yan earned him the belt.

Nonetheless, he has earned the title of world champion and has even started the conversation amongst some as the best bantamweight the UFC has seen. The fighting styles differ in this matchup. Sterling loves to grapple and take the fight to the mat to assert his dominance there. Meanwhile, O’Malley is a fascinating striker using his length and speed to his advantage on the feet. The obvious response to that is if the fight stays on the feet for a good portion of the fight O’Malley will have a solid chance to pull off the upset, but if Sterling is able to take O’Malley down with ease then it may be a long and annoying 25 minutes for O’Malley. 

The physical builds of the two also have quite a drastic difference. O’Malley stands at 5’11” and has a 4” advantage over the smaller 5’7” Sterling. Don’t be fooled though, Sterling is built like a brick shithouse. Once he gets on top, he has the strength and technique to manhandle his opponent into submission. But like all fans and journalists, O’Malley and his team are aware of this. Just like Sterling and his team are aware that O’Malley is lethal on the feet.