Preview! Will Yan Show O’Malley ‘No Mercy’ At UFC 280?

Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan will throw hands with 135-pound fan favorite Sean O’Malley as part of the UFC 280 pay-per-view (PPV) main card TODAY (Sat., Oct. 22, 2022) at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Yan, 29, failed to recapture the crown he lost to Aljamain Sterling in their UFC 273 rematch, falling to 8-2 inside the Octagon and 16-3 overall. Prior to his disappointing ending against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276, the 27 year-old O’Malley (15-1, 1 NC) was on a three-fight winning streak, finishing all three opponents by way of knockout.

“Yan was the only guy after that Pedro Munhoz fight when I went back to the UFC and said, ‘Hey, I want to book a fight,’” O’Malley said at Wednesday’s UFC 280 media day. “Obviously that wasn’t a satisfying victory. Petr was literally the only guy in the top 10 without a fight. He turned down Chito. He turned down Chito, so I don’t think he really had an option. I think the UFC probably went to him and said, ‘Hey, you can’t just keep turning these guys down. You have to fight the ‘Suga Show.’ I know he was saying that he picked that fight, but I don’t believe that. I think he got bullied into it.”

Check out a special “Yan vs. O’Malley” fight video preview embedded above.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 280 fight card, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 10 a.m. ET HERE, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+/ESPNews at 12 p.m. ET HERE, before the PPV main card start time at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ HERE.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 280: “Oliveira vs. Makhachev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the complete UFC 280 fight card and PPV line up click here.