Although the lion's share of attention is currently on the upcoming UFC 291 pay-per-view set for Salt Lake City this weekend, focus will soon turn to next month's numbered offering.
For its third event of August, the mixed martial arts leader will head to Boston. And while Utah will be missing the presence of a legitimate divisional title on Saturday night, the same can't be said for Massachusetts in three weeks' time.
After Zhang Weili looks to defend her strawweight gold in the UFC 292 co-main event, reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling will headline for the second time this year.
Having pushed past the challenge of returning former two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo this past May at UFC 288, "Funk Master" will make a quick and seemingly undesired turnaround to meet Sean O'Malley at the TD Garden.
Since earning a first opportunity at the belt last October, "Sugar" has appeared confident about his chances of being the one to dethrone Sterling. And amidst his pre-fight talk, one of the main topics of conversation has been the effect of the champ's weight cut.
In his latest jibe, O'Malley joked that he was digging into a steak weeks out from the pair's fight, alluding to the sacrifices that Sterling must make in order to hit the 135-pound limit.
Suffice to say, the unique trash talk didn't impress the Uniondale, New York, native.
Sterling: O'Malley 'Nervous' At Having To Eat His Words
During a recent episode of The Weekly Scraps podcast, Sterling gave his take on O'Malley's latest piece of trash talk, which he saw as "weak" and underwhelming.
"Funk Master" suggested that his upcoming challenger is hesitant to engage in meaningful trash talk, which he put down to the nerves that come with having to eat one's own words after a loss.
Nevertheless, while O'Malley may be toning down his remarks as UFC 292 draws nearer, plenty has still been said that either man could come back and remind the other of following the result on August 19.
