One of the more controversial moments from UFC 280 was Sean O’Malley’s split decision victory over Petr Yan. The Russian was the number one ranked lightweight in the world heading into the bout with ‘Sugar’, while the 27-year-old American was ranked outside the top ten. As such, No Mercy could have quite easily rejected the fight with his lower-ranked opponent, instead waiting for the winner of the Aljamain Sterling vs TJ Dillashaw bout that was on the same card. Online bookmakers such as FanDuel, which provides free bets on UFC matchups, made Yan the favorite for the bout, and most experts felt that he had done enough to get the nod in Abu Dhabi.
But nothing is ever certain when you leave a fight in the hands of the judges, as we saw on Saturday night. Instead, it was O’Malley who got his hand raised via a razor-thin split decision. Fans on Twitter have been quick to throw the word “robbery” around, however, we are of the opinion that Yan wasn’t robbed in the Arabian Gulf State. The fight was a war, and it could have gone either way. Yan definitively took round two, of that there is no question. But both rounds one and three were close, and could have gone either way. Two of the judges gave both of those rounds to O’Malley, favoring his more damage-inflicting significant strikes over the Russian’s ground control
As we all know, the decision made on fight night is final, and the history books will read that Sean O’Malley defeated Petr Yan. The question now is, what’s next for Sugar Sean?
Title shot versus Aljamain Sterling
After defeating the number one contender in the division, the next logical step would be a title shot. Following his victory over Yan, O’Malley is expected to rise right up through the bantamweight division, perhaps right to the very top, securing number one contender status. And to us, a fight with the champion makes sense.
Since being knocked out by Marlon Moraes five years ago, the Funk Master has embarked on a tear right through the division. He has racked up eight victories in a row, including defeating three of the top five ranked fighters in the division, namely TJ Dillashaw, Petr Yan (twice, one by DQ), and Cory Sandhagen. Admittedly a fight against Georgian Merab Dvalishvili could make sense, especially as ‘The Machine’ holds a TKO victory over the aforementioned Moraes. But Sterling vs O’Malley would be a pay-per-view headlining fight. Can the same be said for Sterling vs Dvalishvili? We’re not so sure.
Rematch with Petr Yan
Should Dana White and co. decide to take Sterling on a different route, then perhaps a rematch with Yan could be another option. As we mentioned earlier, the former champ had nothing to gain by accepting a bout with O’Malley. He wasn’t going to rise in the rankings, and could only really lose ground in the division should the worst happen.
Well, for Yan, the worst did happen. And now he may have to hope and pray that O’Malley repays the favor, and agrees to a rematch with his foe.
Speaking in the Octagon with Daniel Cormier following the victory, O’Malley didn’t seem certain that he did enough to secure the victory. When asked on the matter, he said: “I didn’t know honestly. I thought it could have gone either way. I’ll have to re-watch it.”
To us, that was refreshing to hear. How many times have we seen blatant robberies, with the ‘winning’ fighter claiming that they did more than enough to get the W? It was great seeing Sugar be so honest after a 15-minute war, and if he has respect for Yan – as it appears at face value – we could potentially see him return the favor down the line.
