Sean O’Malley is stepping into the biggest challenge of his MMA career.
With a matchup between the 27-year-old up-and-comer and former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan — currently No. 2 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings — being targeted for UFC 280, O’Malley knows his time to push into title contention has officially arrived. And he’s ready to take advantage of the opportunity.
” I’m thrilled for this. I almost can’t even believe it’s real, it’s happening,” O’Malley said on ESPN’s DC & RC.
“He is clearly the No. 1 contender right now. He’s pretty much 1-1 against ‘Aljo’ [Aljamain Sterling]. He whooped Aljo the first fight, then he got kind of whooped up in the second fight. He could still be called the champion. The whole top 5, really — the way Petr beat Jose Aldo was one of my favorite performances of Petr Yan. It’s exciting to be in that fight against someone like Petr Yan. I think it’s bigger than Aljo vs. T.J. [Dillashaw].”
Sources informed MMA Fighting Wednesday that the fight was not yet officially completed, but it had been agreed to verbally and is now the UFC’s plan.
O’Malley has been a lightning rod for attention since debuting in the UFC in 2017. Sugar has only lost once in his nine fight octagon run. He also authored numerous highlight reel knockouts against the likes Thomas Almeida and Eddie Wineland. But he’s also faced criticism for his strength of schedule and lack of big-name wins. In O’Malley’s only two fights against athletes currently ranked in the UFC’s bantamweight top 10, he lost via first-round TKO to Marlon Vera then fought to a disappointing no contest against Pedro Munhoz in a fight stopped due to an accidental eye poke at UFC 276.
The Munhoz fight was O’Malley’s latest UFC appearance, yet he believes he was ready to face opponents of Yan’s caliber a long time ago.
” I’ve been working hard for this fight for years,” O’Malley stated. “I’ve felt like I was capable to fight these guys for a long time, it’s just, I never got an opportunity. Pedro was the first guy in the top 10 I got an opportunity to fight. My eyes say that I won the fight. I was dominant and didn’t even get hit in the head or body. It’s all perfect. I’m just so excited to get out there. This is my first experience as an underdog. I’m assuming I’ll be an underdog, which is super cool.
“I think this will be an exciting fight. He says he’s a master of boxing. I consider myself a high-ranking striker .”
O’Malley is indeed the underdog. He opened as more than a 3-to-1 underdog against the former UFC champion after closing as the betting favorite in all of his past UFC bouts.
But O’Malley isn’t concerned. He’s more than ready to level up into title contention.
“I believe I’m better than Petr at what we’re going to do, and that’s f****** fighting,” O’Malley said. O’Malley said, “I believe I am better than Petr.” And I think that’s what is going to get the job done. I’m going to go in there more prepared than Petr, I’m going to go in there and just do what I do. Petr Yan would have his lights turned off, so I’m going to just go into the ring and do my job against him. There are three rounds of five minutes each.
“It’s the best dude I’ve ever fought, hands down, and I’m very excited for the opportunity. And I just believe I’m going to be better October 22nd than Petr.”
