UFC 250 takeaways: Cody Garbrandt rises, Sean O’Malley proves himself, more

Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC 250, which took place Saturday in Las Vegas.

3. Aljamain Sterling makes his statement

In a fight labeled as a No. 1 contender bout by UFC president Dana White, it couldn’t have gone much better for [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag].

Sterling showed up in the best form of his career and completely washed away the highly regarded Cory Sandhagen with a first-round submission. It was nothing short of spectacular, and there’s no question a title fight should be next.

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If I had my druthers, Sterling would be involved in the next fight for the currently vacant bantamweight title. The UFC seems insistent on making Jose Aldo vs. Petr Yan for that fight, with Sterling getting dibs on next. If that fight is made soon I suppose we can live with it. But if it drags out for any reason, Sterling should certainly slide in.

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