Dana White had the same reaction upon hearing his matchmaker’s plan of pitting Sean O’Malley against former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan as many fight fans.
“We were in matchmaking and Sean Shelby actually came up with that fight,” the UFC president explained in his post-fight press conference after Tuesday’s Contender Series event. “Sean Shelby was interested in that fight. I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? I don’t think you can make this fight right now. “This and that.” He explained to me the reasons he would make it, and O’Malley was ready. You know, O’Malley’s about to be 28 years old in October, in his absolute prime right now, hits like a truck.
“He ended up selling me on it. And more importantly, both guys wanted it. Even more, everyone loved it when it was announced. And even more important than that, it should be f****** a really good fight.”
The UFC broke temporarily the MMA Internet when O’Malley announced recently that Yan and he would be fighting on October. 22 At UFC 280 Abu Dhabi.
The announcement came as a surprise for a variety of reasons.
Yan is widely considered to be one of the most talented and fearsome 135-pound fighters in the world. He is currently the No. 2 ranked bantamweight in the world on MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings. He also contended for titles in each of his past four bouts before narrowly losing via split decision to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273.
O’Malley, on the other hand, is still totally untested against the elite of the division. O’Malley, the fan favorite prospect is still winless against current UFC bantamweight ranking fighters. O’Malley was defeated by Marlon Vera via TKO in 2020, and then fought Pedro Munhoz to a no-contest due to an accident eyepoke at UFC 276.. O’Malley’s propulsion to the top in the bantamweight division was not what many expected after the disappointing ending of the Munhoz fight.
But White stated that UFC matchmaker Shelby believed in O’Malley’s capabilities.
And Shelby isn’t alone. O’Malley has already vowed to upset Yan as more than a 3-to-1 underdog at UFC 280 — and he “100 percent” expects to fight for the title once it happens.
“Obviously, I haven’t gotten to prove [I belong at the top],” O’Malley said this past week at a UFC 280 kickoff press conference in London. The fight with Pedro [Munhoz] didn’t end as I expected. But I think I proved I can hang with the top-10 guys. I am now the number one. 1 guy, this is a huge test and I believe I will rise to the occasion.”
This website uses cookies.