Sean O’Malley Takes The Blame For Fall Of Petr Yan

Petr Yan, once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, has now lost three straight fights and four of his last five, coughing up his 135-pound title in the process. That includes last weekend’s decision defeat to rising bantamweight bruiser Merab Dvalishvili.

But Yan may have defeated “The Machine” if his head was in the right space. Unfortunately, “No Mercy” was so “embarrassed” by his “crazy” loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 last Oct. in Abu Dhabi that it may have contributed to his performance at UFC Las Vegas.

“I genuinely in my heart felt bad for Petr,” O’Malley said on the TimboSugarShow. (transcribed by Drake Riggs). “I felt like he looked a little different in there, but it also might be that’s how good Merab is. Merab might have just made him look like that. I just saw it and I’m like, damn, I took a little something from Petr, I feel like. I think he was so — I’m gonna say embarrassed that he lost to me, which he shouldn’t be. I’m f****** pretty skilled, but you don’t want to lose to me. I got f****** pink hair, I’m cute, you know.”

Defeating Yan pushed O’Malley to the No. 1 spot at 135 pounds, a position he would later surrender to Dvalishvili after “The Machine’s” dominant performance at UFC Las Vegas. There’s a chance matchmakers could book “Sugar” against Dvalishvili for the next bantamweight title shot.

Then again, the Georgian may have cost himself the opportunity to compete for gold by insisting he’ll never fight current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (more on that here), though a victory for Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 this May in Newark could put an end to that 135-pound obstacle.