Sean O’Malley believes he and Petr Yan will share the Octagon with one another multiple times.
At UFC 280 on October 22 in Abu Dhabi, O’Malley is getting the toughest test of his career as he’s facing the top-ranked Yan. It’s a fight both men have wanted for quite some time and given the fact that neither of them is 30 yet, O’Malley is confident they will meet multiple times.
“It is (a fun fight). I think we are going to fight multiple times. He’s what, 28, 29, (I’m) 27. The bantamweight division is the best division in the UFC, if I had to predict I think me and Petr will fight multiple times,” O’Malley said to BT Sport. “He’s not going anywhere, he’s not going below top-five ever, once I’m up there I don’t believe I’ll drop down either. I think we will fight multiple times. It’s crazy it’s happening because I’ve wanted this fight for a while, I’ve been talking s**t to Petr for a while, that little Russian. It’s finally here, it’s exciting.”
Sean O’Malley certainly has a point that it does seem likely the two will fight at least twice given they are both young and big stars in the UFC. On paper, it’s also a fun style matchup and if the first fight is exciting, there is no reason why the Las Vegas-based promotion won’t want to run it back at some point in the future.
Sean O’Malley (15-1 and one No Contest) is coming off the No Contest against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 due to an accident eye poke. Prior to that, he was on a three-fight win streak with stoppage wins over Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida. His lone loss came by TKO due to an ankle injury against Marlon Vera. This will be the first time O’Malley fights someone ranked in the top-five, as Yan is ranked number one.
