The “Suga Show” Sean O’Malley returns against Russia’s Petr Yan at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. Yan will be putting his #1 ranking on the line against #13 O’Malley, as O’Malley takes on his toughest test thus far.
16-3 Petr “No Mercy” Yan hopes to keep his name in the forefront of the conversation of title contention, as he tries to bounce back from a loss to the current champion, Aljamain Sterling. Yan beat the now retired “King of Rio” Jose Aldo for the vacant belt in June 2020 and would lose it in his first title defense. One can only imagine that the disqualification for the illegal knee he threw on Sterling to lose the belt, will be the crux of his career if he never wins the belt back. That’s what makes this fight against O’Malley so important.
O’Malley has shown complete dominance in the UFC since his inception on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2017. If you ask him, he’s an undefeated fighter, however, the one blemish on his record came from the unstoppable force that is Marlon “Chito” Vera. At 5’11”, O’Malley is tall for the division, and the 4-inch height and 5-inch reach advantage aren’t bad advantages to have. Fans have been wanting to see him finally face a high-ranked fighter, and this is what we're getting. Since his loss to Vera, he has won three straight and they have all been TKO/KO victories.
My 2 Cents
This fight is very a smart move for O’Malley. He’s ranked #13 and fighting the #1 ranked guy. A win elevates him to a potential shot at the belt, and a loss really does nothing except maybe hurt his ego a little bit. It’s a win-win.
I need to mention and consider how successful Pedro Munhoz’s approach to O’Malley appeared to be. While it ended in a no-contest due to an eye poke, we will never know how the fight would have gone if it went longer, but it’s worth noting. Munhoz kept the lateral movement going and blasted those lower leg kicks, the same kicks that helped end the fight with O’Malley and Vera.
Yan has everything to lose. He’s notorious for having a slow start in the first round, takes a little damage and it’s almost as though he is downloading information on his opponent. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the pleasure of five rounds this time. He won’t have the time to give the first round to O’Malley or take the damage O’Malley can dish out. Yan will have to come out the gate with pressure, attack the legs to stop the movement, and show us the Yan we saw against Aldo.
I’m interested to see how Yan bounces back. His 10-fight win streak was derailed by the disqualification loss and now he’s 1-2 in his last three. We already know O’Malley is going in there locked in with all the confidence in the world to beat anyone.
O’Malley really makes things look easy. I can’t forget the beast that was the “pre-Sterling loss” Yan, the killer with immense power in his hands. He was able to close the distance in striking against Sterling despite the reach advantage, but the striking of Sterling and O’Malley are vastly different. I don’t believe Yan will be able to pull off long striking combos or be able to stop the constant movement of O’Malley.
think O’Malley pulls this off. I’m going with a decision win for O’Malley.
Prediction:
Hammer: Sean O'Malley
Nail: Petr Yan
I'm going to take a different approach to this one. As of now Yan is the favorite, but I think O'Malley pulls this one off. I'm going with a decision win for O'Malley.
Who Wins?
Petr Yan
Sean O'Malley
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