Petr Yan downplays comparisons between his fight with Sean O’Malley and Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo: “He is a UFC project and Conor wannabe”
Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan isn’t a big fan of comparisons to UFC 194’s main event.
‘No Mercy’ returns to action this Saturday night against Sean O’Malley. It’ll be Yan’s first bout since his rematch with Aljamain Sterling in April. In that outing, the Russian lost his interim bantamweight strap by a hard-fought split decision.
Heading into UFC 280, there’s been a lot of chatter about the bantamweight clash. There have also been comparisons made to another massive fight. That comparison is UFC 194’s main event between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo. In that featherweight clash, ‘The Notorious’ won by first-round knockout.
UFC president Dana White has also made a comparison between the two fights. The promoter stated if O’Malley defeats Yan similar to how McGregor knocked out Aldo, he would explode in popularity.
Elements of the comparison make sense to Petr Yan. However, don’t expect the former bantamweight champion to get fully on board with the idea. At UFC 280 media day, he discussed the comparisons between the two fights.
Simply put, the Russian fighter understands the comparison, but he doesn’t agree. However, he does believe that Sean O’Malley is a “wannabe”, who copies Conor McGregor’s personality.
UFC stars Sean O’Malley and Conor McGregor have conversation
“Considering the other side of things, you can definitely compare it to the Conor [McGregor]-[Jose] Aldo fight,” Yan told MMA media members at UFC 280 media day.“Sean is a UFC project and Conor wannabe, but the result of this matchup will be different.”
He concluded, “You saw my fight with Aldo already.”
The former bantamweight champion referenced his previous win over ‘Junior’ in July 2020. At UFC 251, Yan battered the Brazilian to earn the first UFC championship of his career by fifth-round stoppage.
The Tiger Muay Thai product will now begin the march back to the championship this weekend. First up, Yan has to defeat ‘Sugar’ on pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi.
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