Sean O’Malley reveals UFC fight that made him realize he was living out his MMA dreams
Over the last few years, Sean O’Malley has become one of the biggest stars in the UFC. It’s been a dream come true for the bantamweight star, and he remembers the specific fight where he realized everything he had hoped for was becoming a reality.
It was in the lead up to a 2022 fight with former bantamweight champ Petr Yan that O’Malley recognized his dreams were coming true. At the time, O’Malley was ranked way below Yan in the bantamweight rankings. So much so that many fans felt the fight was a huge mismatch. In the end, however, O’Malley defeated the former champ by decision in a thrilling, three-round war, cementing himself as a legit title contender in the offing.
It’s clear how important that fight was to him in hindsight.
Sean O’Malley looks back on UFC war with Petr Yan
“Petr Yan’s still probably one of the most scariest dudes in the division,” O’Malley said on Israel Adesanya’s Young Man Ramble show. “Like, Merab [Dvalishvili is] one of the best at winning fights. Petr Yan is someone that’s going to f*cking elbow you, knock you out, hurt you, cut you, beat the f*ck out of you. … When we were fighting in Abu Dhabi, I think when we walked past him, what did he say? ‘I’m going to eat you’ or something.
“That one I was, like, ‘Holy f*ck. This is the shit I dreamed of,'” O’Malley added. “I was ranked 11, he was ranked No. 1. It was crazy because literally No. 2 through 10 were all fighting each other. The only person in the division after the Pedro Munhoz fight – it was a no-contest, I supposedly eye-poked him – it was Petr Yan. It was like, this is it. This is the f*cking time.”
After his career-changing win over Yan, Sean O’Malley knocked out Aljamain Sterling to claim the UFC bantamweight title. “Suga” then defended his belt with a decision win over Marlon “Chito” Vera. He ultimately lost the belt to Dvalishvili last September.
He will run it back with Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 317 on June 7 in Newark, NJ.
