Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley will be watching the UFC 333 main event hoping for the champion to retain the belt. O’Malley wants champion Petr Yan to defeat former titleholder Merab Dvalishvili in their headlining trilogy bout and is honest about why. Spoiler, he’ll have the most to gain if Yan wins.
“Pete is not joke. He is no God damn joke,” O’Malley said on his Youtube channel. “I’m pushing for him to win. I want him to win. There’s a level of like, woo, all right, we’re fighting Petr again. Five rounds. Like, that nervousness you get when there’s a big f**king fight like that against such a killer, such a scary guy is like – I don’t know how to describe it – It’s like an alive, holy f**k, we’re really going to war with this motherf**ker again. Last fight was three rounds four years ago.”
O’Malley holds a win over Yan. He was defeated twice by Dvalishvili. If Yan wins, O’Malley believes a rematch with Yan would be an obvious booking for UFC matchmakers.
“If he wins, we get it. We’re next. We’re f**king next. I’m not 100%, like I don’t know. I’m putting that out there. I don’t know what the f**k else they’re going to have,” he said. “I just think me versus Petr will be the biggest fight in bantamweight history. The rematch, and it’s going to be massive. So obviously we’re rooting for Petr.”
The two fought at UFC 280 in October 2022. O’Malley edged out the Russia via split decision. Like with most split decisions, a lot of people didn’t agree with the judges. Many felt Yan’s hand should have been raised four years ago in Abu Dhabi, including Yan.