O’Malley And Vera Received ‘Gifted’ Titles Opportunities

Petr Yan believes he needs to restore order to Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Bantamweight title scene.

It’s been a rough stretch of results for “No Mercy” since he held undisputed gold in 2020. The former champion, Yan (16-5), returns to action at UFC 299 when he intends to break a three-fight losing skid against Song Yadong in Miami, Fla., this weekend (Sat., March 9, 2024). In the evening’s headliner, the division’s title will be on the line when the champion, Sean O’Malley, rematches Marlon “Chito” Vera.

The setback directly in the middle of Yan’s skid came opposite O’Malley via a thrilling and hard-fought split decision encounter at UFC 280 in October 2022 (watch highlights). Yan still believes he should have earned the victory on the night as O’Malley went on to claim his title against former champion, Aljamain Sterling, afterward. When it comes to Vera, Yan also doesn’t feel the upcoming opportunity is justified.

“I think Marlon Vera got gifted this title shot because he lost to Cory Sandhagen,” Yan said at UFC 299 media day (h/t MMA Fighting). “Obviously, it’s not for me to decide who is the title challenger, but I’m seriously in the mood to get back in the title race.

“Sean just picked a contender he could beat because he doesn’t believe he can beat any other top contenders in the division,” he continued. “And just to remind everyone how he got his title shot, he got gifted the decision in that fight against me.”

Vera rebounded off his split decision loss to Sandhagen with a unanimous decision nod over Pedro Munhoz to get his second encounter opposite O’Malley. Both fighters in UFC 299’s main event secured their recent wins at UFC 292 in August 2023. For Yan, a big win over Song can keep him in the mix atop the rankings.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 299 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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