"Aljo, you gotta go" - When Sean O'Malley's coach stoked Aljamain Sterling into match-ending TKO sequence during UFC title clash

Sean O'Malley captured the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling last year. This we know, but some interesting creativity from O'Malley's cornerman has been revealed.

The clash between O'Malley and Sterling transpired at UFC 292 in August 2023. The pay-per-view headliner went down at TD Garden in Boston with Aljamain Sterling entering as the title holder while Sean O'Malley was the challenger. Sterling was looking to notch the fourth defense of his UFC title while O'Malley was aiming to make good on his first bid for an Ultimate Fighting Championship strap.

In a clip shared by @Home_of_Fight on X, footage was shown of O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch, shouting cage-side:

"Aljo, you gotta go!"

It was at that point in the clip when Sterling encroached forward to where he was cracked with a right hand. This soon after resulted in a title change following ground and pound shots by O'Malley.

The stoppage took place at the 51-second mark of the second stanza of the contest and saw Sean O'Malley improve his record to 17-1 while Aljamain Sterling fell to 23-4.

Check out the clip of Welch shouting from cage-side to Sterling below:

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Sean O'Malley vs Aljamain Sterling: The paths both have gone on since their fight

The 29-year-old vaulted his burgeoning star power upward even more with the win, and the newly-minted champ went on to face a familiar foe thereafter. Sean O'Malley made the first defense of his 135-pound crown against the only man to have defeated him in professional mixed martial arts, Marlon 'Chito' Vera.

'Suga' made the first defense of his belt and tied up his series with Vera in a comprehensive unanimous decision performance. This took place in the pay-per-view headliner of UFC 299 in March.

The Montana native is theorized to make his sophomore title defense against number-one contender Merab Dvalishvili, although nothing has been officially confirmed in that regard.

Sterling, meanwhile, has actually switched weight divisions altogether and chose to move up in weight. 'Funk Master' competed on April 13 as part of UFC 300 and notched a win over a ranked featherweight in the process.

Aljamain Sterling scored a unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar in a grappling-heavy affair that amounted to one of the more one-sided performances on the tentpole event for the company.

Sterling is also in a position where his next fight is not confirmed, although he is seemingly eyeing one of the higher ranked contenders at 145 pounds.