Sean O’Malley shocks the world with stunning second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling to win the bantamweight title at UFC 292

Sean O’Malley proved the hype was real as he captured the UFC bantamweight title on Saturday night, stopping Aljamain Sterling in the second round in the main event at UFC 292 at the TD Garden.

O’Malley (17-1), of Phoenix, dropped Sterling with an overhand right early in the second. 

With Sterling on the mat, O’Malley followed him down with ground and pound until referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight 51 seconds into the round.

The 28-year-old O”Malley was fighting in a five-round bout for the first time. The 34-year-old Sterling dropped to 23-4. He entered the fight with 10 straight wins.

The first round was fairly uneventful. Sterling attempted a takedown with 30 seconds left, pinning O’Malley against the fence before the round ended.

O’Malleyknocked Sterling down with a fierce counter right before finishing him on the mat

The American was the underdog but proved his doubters wrong with a stunning victory 

Sterling, of Uniondale, New York, was making the fourth defense of his bantamweight title. 

Ireland’s Ian Garry has continued his dramatic rise in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over American Neil Magny at UFC 292.

The 25-year-old welterweight dominated all three rounds to improve his professional record to 13-0 at UFC 292.

Garry was originally scheduled to face Geoff Neal, but he withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and Magny stepped up at short notice.

In the co-main event, Zhang Weili of China retained her strawweight title with a five-round unanimous decision against Amanda Lemos of Brazil. The scores were 50-43, 50-44 and 49-45.

Zhang (24-3) kept Lemos (13-3-1) on the mat for most of the fight. In the fourth, Lemos had a little success while they were on their feet, landing a right hand that briefly put Zhang on the mat, but Zhang got up and brought Lemos to the mat with a takedown and landed several knees to the head.