Petr Yan seeks Sean O’Malley rematch opportunity

Petr Yan seeks Sean O’Malley rematch opportunity

Less than 24 hours after his disappointing display at UFC 306, Sean O’Malley may have his next opponent lined up.

‘Suga’ entered the octagon on Saturday night as the minor favorite over Merab Dvalishvili. Despite the odds, the Georgian outclassed his opponent for almost the entire 25-minute affair. 

His forward pressure and grappling proved too much on the night, handing O’Malley his second career defeat.

As the dust settled on the one-sided headlining bout at UFC 306, Petr Yan took his chance to call for a rematch with Sean O’Malley.

The two met back in 2022 and, while the matchup received high praise, many considered the result to be a ‘robbery’. Yan believes he won the fight and has now called for a second opportunity to prove that.

“I never considered Sean a real champion,” Yan said in a post on X. “He was gifted [a] decision against me in Abu Dhabi.”

“Rematch season is open, so see you soon.”

I never considered Sean a real champion because he was gifted decision against me in Abu Dhabi. Rematch season is open, so see you soon 👊🏼

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) September 15, 2024

Related: Dana White not surprised by Merab Dvalishvili kissing Sean O’Malley

The pair collided at UFC 280 in a three-round war of the highest level. The bantamweight stars went toe to toe for 15 minutes and needed the judges scorecards to settle their clash.

Big damage was landed on both sides. O’Malley was caught with a huge shot that dropped him to the canvas, before he landed one of his vicious signature knees that split Yan wide open.

When all was said and done, it was Sean O’Malley who ultimately walked away with the split decision victory — though the general feeling among fans was that the judges got it wrong.

Since then, Petr Yan suffered a loss to the newly-crowned 135 lbs champion Merab Dvalishvili before getting back into the winner’s column last time out. The Russian outworked Song Yadong and has manage to launch himself right back into title contention.