Sean O’Malley is days away from returning to the Octagon as he faces rising bantamweight contender Song Yadong at UFC 324 in Las Vegas. O’Malley will look to snap the first losing skid of his career against Yadong in an elite striking match.
Following Merab Dvalishvili’s loss to Petr Yan at UFC 323, the door is once again open for O’Malley and other recent title challengers to make a run at the title. O’Malley defeated Petr Yan by decision at UFC 280 in what was the biggest win of his career at the time.
While O’Malley’s main focus as of this writing is knocking out Yadong, a rematch with Yan is a possibility with a win at UFC 324. Ahead of a potential rematch, don’t expect there to be much animosity from either side, as O’Malley recently expressed his admiration for the current bantamweight champion.
Sean O’Malley: Petr Yan is one of my favorite fighters to watch
In a recent episode of Death Row MMAO’Malley praised the skills of former rival Petr Yan, whom he has admired for years.
“Petr has always been one of my favorite fighters to watch. I remember him coming up and I was thinking, this guy is so skilled, he’s a scary little guy,” O’Malley said.
“So he’s always been one of my favorites. Mean little f—. I recently saw his last fight with Merab, a few days ago, and it was such a beautiful performance. He elbowed the forearm and Merab held him after the first round, it was just such a beautiful performance and one of the sickest performances I’ve ever seen.”
Yan has recent victories over the likes of Marcus McGhee, Yadong and Dvalishvili. As Yan begins his second reign at bantamweight, O’Malley and others wait in the wings.
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