Sean O’Malley is ready to show the world exactly what he’s capable of at UFC 280 on Oct. 22, 2022 … the mixed martial arts (MMA) community isn’t so sure, however.
The rising Bantamweight superstar is officially set for his toughest test today, facing former divisional champion, Petr Yan, at the aforementioned event. Aside from the difference in ranking, O’Malley at No. 13 and Yan at No. 1, “Sugar’s” most recent performance left a lot to be desired in the eyes of many.
When the match-up possibility came up during a weekly meeting, even UFC President, Dana White, wasn’t so sure as he responded by saying; “Are you out of your mind?” to one of his UFC Matchmakers, Sean Shelby, who shortly after sold him on the idea.
“Once I faceplant Petr into the canvas, Dana will be like, ‘Okay, that was a good fight,’” O’Malley said on The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Junkie). “Regardless, me versus Petr is an epic fight, a sweet, sweet kickboxing fight if I had to guess — two very high-level strikers, two very high-level MMA fighters, and it’s gonna be a very interesting fight. I believe I have what it takes to put Petr’s lights out.
“I think Dana really likes me. I f—king love Dana,” he continued. “So I think with him saying that, it was no disrespect or anything. It’s just his opinion, and anybody could have their own opinion. I don’t really care. I think that fight gets Dana excited. Dana’s been doing this for a long time. He could be getting burnt out of it, [watching] fights every weekend. What fight is gonna make Dana go, ‘I need to watch that fight, I have to watch that, I have to know what happened’? There are very few fights [coming up].”
O’Malley’s last fight took place earlier this month (July 2, 2022) at UFC 276 against perennial top 10 talent, Pedro Munhoz. Unfortunately for both men, the bout ended in a less than decisive fashion.
After a calculated first round from each that two judges scored for Munhoz, round two saw the action come to a halt following an accidental eye poke landed on Munhoz, rendering him unable to continue. The official ruling was a no-contest.