Sean O'Malley enjoyed an impressive win at UFC 292. It was even more impressive considering he was severely compromised going into the fight.

O'Malley shocked the world when he became the new bantamweight champion following a second-round TKO victory over Aljamain Sterling last night in Boston, Mass.

Although he wasn't tested on the ground like many expected as Sterling had trouble closing the distance, he did stuff two takedown attempts towards the end of the first round. In the second round, he managed to punish Sterling as the latter was closing in by dropping him with an accurate counter right before finishing him with ground and pound.

What wasn't known to most, however, was that O'Malley not only had a rib injury going into the fight — he also did next to no grappling at all in preparation for it.

Bradley Martyn released cut footage from his podcast with O'Malley six days prior to the fight where the latter made the revelation.

“If it was just a co-main event, three rounds against him, I would pull out one hundred percent,” O'Malley said. “… For sure [this is my hardest fight], I'm not stupid. There's definitely a possibility of him choking me.

“… Dealing with injuries and s**t, but I still have that confidence and I know he's dealing with s**t too. … As long as I can survive getting to the next round, it would be ideal. I've been dealing with this muscle strain in my rib. For the last few weeks, I haven't been able to grapple at all. I'm not grappling once until the fight.”

Fortunately for Sean O'Malley, he didn't need to do any grappling, but a big part of that was because he didn't allow Sterling to take him down thanks to his footwork.