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Sean O’Malley proves his doubters wrong with bloody split decision win over former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280
Sean O’Malley picked up the biggest win of his career as he survived some tough moments to beat Petr Yan by split decision after three epic rounds of MMA.
‘Sugar’ squared off against the former bantamweight champion in an eagerly anticipated match-up that lived up to the hype at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
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The fight started with Yan pressing forward, throwing kicks, and O’Malley circling around the Octagon while throwing out straight right hands.
‘Sugar’ landed two big shots before his opponent decided to mix things up and take the fight to the floor where he landed some decent ground strikes.
O’Malley popped back to his feet and managed to secure a takedown of his own before the horn sounded and a competitive round one came to a close.
The American fighter landed a huge right hand at the start of round two that seemed to have Yan wobbling for the first time in his UFC career.
After surviving O’Malley’s attempts to close the show, the Russian fired back with a huge right hand of his own that shook his opponent and allowed him to secure another takedown.
The former champion won exchanges on the floor and on the feet to recover from a tough start to the second stanza to end it looking like the better man.
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A dull third frame burst into life when O’Malley opened up a bad cut above Yan’s eye when he landed a beautiful knee. The 27-year-old looked to step in and close the show but ate nasty counter shots that once again had him on wobbly legs.
Amid the carnage, Yan had the wherewithal to secure another takedown and he proceeded to take the fight back to the floor every time the young prospect managed to pop back up.
Ultimately, two of the three ringside judges thought O’Malley did enough and scored the fight 29-28 in his favour while the dissenting judge had the fight 29-28 for Yan.
Ahead of UFC 280, Dana White claimed that O’Malley is on the cusp of becoming a ‘global superstar’ and compared his fight to Yan to Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo.
McGregor was quick to react post-fight, but he didn’t comment on O'Malley and choose to focus on Yan’s tactics, he tweeted: “The best shooter in the ufc”
O’Malley seems to be next in line for a title shot after this win but refused to directly call for the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs TJ Dillashaw.
Sterling battered his opponent and has previously suggested he would fight the winner of Yan vs O'Malley, so now we wait.
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