Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan set for UFC 280
An intriguing bantamweight bout between surging contender Sean O’Malley and former champion Petr Yan has been set for UFC 280.
From ESPN’s Brett Okamoto via the DC/RC Show, the fight between O’Malley and Yan has been added to UFC 280, which takes place on October 22 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The fight will take place on the main card, one that is already stacked to the brim as it already features UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling vs. TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event and Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev for the vacant lightweight belt in the headliner. Also on the card is a welterweight bout between Sean Brady and Belal Muhammad, so it’s loaded.
Yan vs. O’Malley in Abu Dhabi, per DC/RC on @espnmma YouTube. No slowing down for O’Malley now. Deep end. pic.twitter.com/4twpwuJEmQ
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 20, 2022
The matchup is somewhat surprising since O’Malley is coming off of a No Contest against Pedro Munhoz in his last fight at UFC 276. It was not the best performance from O’Malley, but he is still getting rewarded with a fight against the No. 1 contender in the form of Yan. It should be interesting to see how he performs against such an elite opponent given that he had his struggles against a lower-ranked fighter in Munhoz.
As for Yan, he is coming off of a close split decision loss to Sterling earlier this year at UFC 273. However, despite losing that fight on the judges’ scorecards, many fans and media felt that the fight was a draw at worst, so he’s still one of the best in the world. Still, it’s a bit surprising he’s being matched up against a lower-ranked opponent since it wasn’t that long ago that he was the champion in the weight class. Should he defeat O’Malley, it would make sense that Yan would fight the winner of Sterling/Dillashaw.
Who do you think wins this exciting bantamweight bout at UFC 280, Sean O’Malley or Petr Yan?
