Former mixed martial arts referee and current Bellator host John McCarthy said that American Sean O'Malley is not yet ready to fight for the UFC bantamweight championship belt.
I think O'Malley should have done a lot more to defeat Yan, but the judges gave him the victory. Either way Sean did well, congratulations to him. That said, I don't think he's ready to fight Aljamain Sterling. It's not the most reasonable fight for him...
John McCarthy, "Weighing In" podcast
O'Malley had his last fight against Petr Yan of Russia on October 22 in Abu Dhabi in the main card of UFC 280. Sean won that fight, which went the full three rounds, by split decision.
O'Malley made his UFC debut against his compatriot Andre Soukhamthath in March 2018. That fight ended in Sean's favor with a unanimous decision by the judges. He has 16 wins and one loss under his belt in mixed martial arts.