Sean O'Malley believes rematch with Petr Yan will be biggest bantamweight fight ever
Sean O'Malley wanted Petr Yan to win at UFC 333 almost as much as the champion himself, and now he believes a fight between them would be historic for the bantamweight division.
Few fighters followed UFC 333 as closely as Sean O'Malley. He was invested in the co-main event, which saw Petr Yan successfully defend the bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili in an exceptional trilogy bout. Now, 'Suga' believes he's next in line, and is certain it'll be the biggest fight in the division's history.
Sean O'Malley wants to make history with Petr Yan
Sean O'Malley has always dreamed big, and he is now as determined as ever to recapture the bantamweight title that he lost to Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision at UFC 306. While he failed in his attempts to beat 'The Machine,' losing to him again at UFC 316, only this time via second-round submission, O'Malley does have a win over Petr Yan, who successfully defended his title in a competitive scrap at UFC 333, where he won via unanimous decision. O'Malley was well aware that, having already lost twice to Dvalishvili, his only chance of ever fighting for the title again would be if Yan won, which he did. So, now? He hopes he's next.
He uploaded a video to his official YouTube channel, staking his claim, while also asserting that a rematch with Yan would be the biggest fight in UFC bantamweight history (8:12):
"I'm locked in. I've been locked in since the last fight, knowing that I might be fighting Petr Yan again. I've been locked in since my last fight. We're staying locked in. Whenever the fight is, we're locked in, ready to go. It's going to be the greatest, the biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history. I don't know when, I don't know where, but I know it's going to happen."
Their first encounter at UFC 280 ended in controversial fashion, with O'Malley getting his hand raised in a split-decision that many felt was a robbery. Regardless, 'Suga' is now ready to make his way back into title contention, having authored a two-fight win streak, with a unanimous decision win over Song Yadong at UFC 324, and a second-round TKO of Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250. However, there is one inconvenience to his plans to face Yan for a title, and that's Song himself, who is also on a twin-fight win streak, as he is coming off a second-round knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Shanghai, and a second-round submission of Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau.
In fact, Daniel Cormier, who had conducted the post-fight interviews at UFC 333, had brought up a potential title defense against Song to Yan, which the champion welcomed. This only frustrated the O'Malley camp, who called 'DC' out, and it'll be up to the UFC to solve the matchmaking crisis at bantamweight.
