Sean O’Malley seemed pretty convinced that a Petr Yan win at UFC 333 would result in a “Suga” title shot. But we’re not so sure any more after seeing the UFC push Song Yadong on the Abu Dhabi broadcast.
O’Malley holds a controversial split decision win over Yan from 2022, so there’s a baked in storyline to hype up a potential rematch for Yan’s bantamweight belt. Yan started slow in Abu Dhabi against Merab Dvalishvili but turned up the heat in round three to win the fight convincingly, 48-47 on all three judges score cards (highlights here).
After an uncertain start, O’Malley must have thought that was sweet. But things got a bit sour after Yan was announced the winner and color commentator Daniel Cormier suggested Song Yadong, who was in attendance in Abu Dhabi, was the real No. 1 contender. O’Malley? Unmentioned.
Yan seemed uninterested in winning back that loss against O’Malley, too. Instead, he suggested Sean was a bit too used to getting gift title shots.
“I’m not the one to decide it, whoever is offered to me by UFC, by the promotion, is who I’m going to fight,” Yan told MMA Fighting following his win. “But honestly, the UFC has already been trying to pull Sean O’Malley by his bootstraps since the very beginning, they’ve given him two free fights against the champ when it was Merab, right? They’ve raised this chicken to lay eggs for so long, they’re trying to squeeze as many eggs out of him as possible.”
Yan has a win over Yadong from 2024, but still suggested Song had evolved more than Sean.
“From what I see, Song Yadong is way more well rounded now,” he said before adding, “I will repeat myself, though. I do not choose my opponents. Whoever the company gives me, that’s who I fight.”
Maybe O’Malley should have made the 16 hour journey to Abu Dhabi for that one rather than remain in Arizona, because a cageside Yadong definitely got more of a rub at UFC 333 than he did. If the UFC decides they’d rather have another Chinese challenger for a title shot plus a Sean O’Malley vs. Payton Talbott title eliminator fight, “Suga” could end up on the outside looking in.