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“There’s No Such Thing….”: Following Sean O’Malley’s Dominant Performance at UFC 292, Dana Whites Clears the Air Around the “Privilege” Accusations in the Past

Published 08/20/2023, 6:35 AM EDT

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All eyes across the combat world were fixed upon the UFC as the promotion and its fighters prepared for the UFC 292 fight card. Headlining the event were fighters Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling. The fight was for the UFC Bantamweight title, and Sterling was defending his title. However, O’Malley took the win and is currently the division champ.

Ever since the day talk of the fight started circulating, Dana White has had to fend off allegations of certain fighters being given more privileges than others. In the eyes of the fans, Dana White was biased toward certain fighters such as O’Malley. Now that O’Malley is coming off a clean win, UFC President Dana White had a few things to say about the accusations made.

UFC President Dana White defends Sean O’Malley and Himself against ‘Privilege’ accusations

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The UFC president has been facing fire ever since the O’Malley vs. Sterling fight card was discussed. Allegations of Dana White being biased toward O’Malley and ‘handing’ him a title shot were the order of the day. Sterling seemed convinced that O’Malley didn’t deserve it. But, at UFC 292, when O’Malley took the win with a TKO, White had the podium to take a stand for himself and the new champ.

When, in the post-fight press conference, an interviewer asked him questions about this, White cleared the air saying, “Yeah! I mean, listen… you know, ‘Dana White privilege’ – you don’t become number two in the world without earning it, so… And I don’t pick that. You people do. So… then he went in there and delivered tonight.“. The promotion President then spoke candidly but cryptically, about everything that has been going on internally. 

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There’s no such thing as ‘Dana White privilege’ in this company. You… you know, they can do that type of shit in boxing. If you make it to the top here… you know what I mean? I’m not gonna say that some people can’t catch some breaks sometimes. People are hurt, you know… this and that happens. Certain matchups can’t happen at one time.“, he said, hinting at Sterling’s reason for refusing a fight against O’Malley. 

Finally, clearing up all misconceptions and addressing the privilege claims, once and for all, Dana White said, “You got a situation where Merab won’t fight the champion… I mean there’s lots of different things that can happen, but it has nothing to do with us. It’s just the way timing and everything plays out. When you get to a title shot, you’ve earned it here.“.

“There’s a Time for It”: Sean O’Malley Provides a Major Update on His Infamous Habit Ahead of His Fight Against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292

Although the rivalry between Sterling and O’Malley has been brewing for a while, despite all the exchanges, the respect between the two is for the whole world to see. In fact, O’Malley even went on to say that Sterling was the ‘best Bantamweight champ’ he had seen.

Sean O’Malley vs. Aljamain Sterling  – The complete storyline

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Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley never got along well. The two had respect for each other but were never fond of the other. When Sterling defeated Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, Sterling’s best friend, Merab Dvalishvili, stole O’Malley’s jacket, thereby inciting O’Malley. Then, Dana White said that a fight between O’Malley and Sterling was on the table for UFC 292. However, Sterling didn’t seem to be on board with this. He kept refusing to fight O’Malley saying he is taking advantage of the ‘Dana White privilege’, as he had to work hard to get a title shot himself.

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However, the UFC President was adamant about making it happen – and it did. There was a lot of back and forth between White and Sterling, but eventually, against Sterling’s opposition, the fight card was made.

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At UFC 292, Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling headlined. However, in the second round, O’Malley set up Sterling beautifully. As Sterling reached out to land a shot, O’Malley countered beautifully with a right of his own, sending Sterling to the mat. He then rained down punishment on Sterling. The referee soon called it, and Sean O’Malley was declared the newly crowned Bantamweight king. What are your thoughts about the ‘Dana White Privilege’? Do you think such a thing exists? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Arghyadeep Ghosh

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Arghyadeep is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His love for combat sports dates back to the WWF. Being a 90’s kid, he grew up fascinated by showmanship, competitive fighting, and wrestling.
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Edited by:

Rupkamal Sarma