Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley 2 is the right bantamweight title fight to make
Petr Yan just defended his bantamweight title at UFC 333, and his very next assignment as a defending champion should be a rematch with Sean O'Malley.
The Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley 2 bout is what must come next in the UFC bantamweight division, and the promotion must strike now while the iron is still hot.
Why the Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley rematch makes sense
When Petr Yan regained his bantamweight title at UFC 323, the logical follow-up was an immediate rematch with Merab Dvalishvili, who had been on a 14-fight win streak, with three title defenses. That rematch, a trilogy bout, finally took place this past weekend at UFC 333, and it was a competitive, five-round affair, but in the end, Yan separated himself from Dvalishvili and won via unanimous decision. It was his first successful bantamweight title defense, and now the question is who Yan should face next? There are only three bantamweights, at the moment, who are in strong positions to challenge him for the belt.
They are Mario Bautista, Song Yadong, and Sean O'Malley.
All three men are on two-fight win streaks, but only one of them is truly deserving. Bautista's win streak leaves a lot to be desired. He submitted Vinicius Oliveira, who is unranked, in round two at UFC Vegas 113, then outworked the #6 ranked Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision at UFC 329. One quality win isn't enough, and he'll need one more top ranked win. In Song's case, he's in a better position than Bautista. He defeated a former UFC flyweight champion in Deiveson Figueiredo by submitting him in round two at UFC Fight Night 277. An opponent who is still ranked ahead of Oliveira, at least by the UFC Media Panel, which has Figueiredo at #12. Then, of course, there's his win over the top five ranked Umar Nurmagomedov, who he knocked out in round two at UFC Shanghai.
The win over Nurmagomedov was great. He's a formerly undefeated fighter who fought for the title, but what about O'Malley? O'Malley has a win over Song himself, who is ranked in the top three, having beaten him via unanimous decision this year at UFC 324. He also has a win over Aiemann Zahabi, who he TKO'd in round three at UFC Freedom 250. Those two wins over Song and Zahabi are helped by the fact that O'Malley also has a win over Yan. The two men clashed at UFC 280, with 'Suga' winning in a controversial split-decision. There's a story of vengeance that the UFC can promote for Yan, highlighting the competitive nature of his first fight with O'Malley.
It would be one of the biggest fights of 2027 and, in O'Malley's opinion, the biggest fight in UFC bantamweight history.
