Aljamain Sterling responds to Sean O’Malley’s “cute” theory about friendship with Merab Dvalishvili

Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling responded to Sean O’Malley’s comments questioning the validity of his friendship with teammate Merab Dvalishvili.

Sterling will likely be in Dvalishvili’s corner for UFC 306 this weekend in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili faces O’Malley for the UFC bantamweight title and a shot at winning a world championship.

Dvalishvili is hoping to get a bit of revenge on behalf of Sterling, who lost to O’Malley by TKO at UFC 292 last year. Since UFC 292, Sterling made the full-time move to featherweight, opening the door for Dvalishvili to contend at 135lbs.

Ahead of UFC 306, O’Malley expressed skepticism when discussing Dvalishvili and Sterling’s relationship. He pondered whether or not Dvalishvili was happy for Sterling to lose to him to avoid waiting around for a title shot.

Aljamain Sterling calls Sean O’Malley’s theory “Art of war” ahead of UFC 306

In a recent interview with Helen Yee, Sterling responded to O’Malley’s theory.

“I think it’s simply the art of war,” Sterling said of O’Malley’s comments. “He’s just looking for things to kind of tug out to see if he can get in Merab’s head a little bit. But it’s of no effect. It’s just cute to see him try to do stuff like that, but it’s going to be a great fight. So I’m excited about that. I don’t think we can fake this, we’re literally neighbors. I’m not sure how you can fake that, but I guess [he believes it].”

Sterling was a key part of Dvalishvili’s fight camp due to his familiarity with O’Malley. Dvalishvili earned the title shot after recent wins over former champions Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo.

As Sterling puts his bantamweight run in the past, he’s focused on his upcoming return against Movsar Evloev. Dvalishvili will look to get one back for his team and for Sterling, who still questions O’Malley’s persona.