UFC interim bantamweight champion Petr Yan is allegedly in need of cornermen and Sean O’Malley has appeared to agree to help out.
It was reported by multiple outlets earlier this week that members of Yan’s corner were denied visas to travel to the U.S. for UFC 273. Yan will face bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling in a title rematch about a year in the making.
After news broke of Yan’s situation, he reached out to retired former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo to help out.
“Hey coach [Henry Cejudo] what are your plans on April 9th?” Yan asked.
Cejudo has yet to respond to Yan’s request.
Just hours after Yan reached out to Cejudo on social media, O’Malley recorded a video in which he appeared to agree to help corner Yan for his upcoming fight.
One corner spot is taken by @SugaSeanMMA
pic.twitter.com/rW5bJNRZIt
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) March 17, 2022
“One corner spot is taken by [Sean O’Malley],” Yan responded.
Yan earned the interim title over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 after Sterling withdrew from their originally scheduled rematch due to Sterling’s health issues. The rematch was postponed a second time for UFC 273 after the UFC 272 booking fell apart for conflicting reasons.
Yan lost via disqualification to Sterling at UFC 259 after landing an illegal knee late in the fight. Before the infraction, Yan had taken control of the fight and had appeared to be on his way to a successful title defense.
O’Malley and Yan share a bit of history from a distance. Among other interactions, O’Malley has predicted that a fight with Yan down the line would be the biggest fight in UFC bantamweight history.
Despite Yan searching for help from Cejudo, the two have gone back-and-forth on social media over the past couple of years. Yan has questioned the timing of Cejudo’s retirement while Cejudo has previously teased coming out of retirement to fight him.
Cejudo has recently teased a UFC comeback and threw his name into the conversation to fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273. However, the UFC opted to go with Chan Sung Jung (aka The Korean Zombie) instead of Cejudo.
Yan hasn’t had any visa issues ahead of UFC 273 and it appears that his cornermen are the only ones impacted by recent traveling challenges.
What do you think about Sean O’Malley volunteering to corner Petr Yan At UFC 273?
Continue Reading Yan Reaches Out To Cejudo For UFC 273 Corner, O’Malley Volunteers at MMA News.