While the end result was controversial, Sean O'Malley took a massive step forward in his evolution on Saturday night.
The Dana White’s Contender Series alum defeated former bantamweight champion Petr Yan via split decision in a featured bout at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. The victory could potentially set O’Malley up for a title shot against reigning champion Aljamain Sterling. At the time, however, another fight was the furthest thing from O’Malley’s mind.
“It’s hard to make fights right after. I’m sore, I have a headache, I’m tired. I don’t want to fight anyone. I want to go home and see my princess,” O’Malley said at the UFC 280 post-fight press conference.
He then acknowledged that his time at the top of the bantamweight division is on the horizon.
“It’s inevitable,” he said. “I turn 28 [on Sunday], and I’m going to be in this sport for a long time. People want me to be champ, so it’s going to happen sooner than later.”
Regardless of whether you thought O’Malley deserved to get the nod on the scorecards, it was clear that “Sugar” showed improvement in several areas against Yan, who was a significant favorite heading into the matchup. In his first test, O’Malley was hurt by leg kicks against Marlon Vera before falling via first-round TKO, and more recently, a matchup against Pedro Munhoz ended in a no contest due before it could completely unfold.
“‘Kick his legs,’ was the first one. Now it’s ‘You can’t just kick his legs and take him down,’” O’Malley said. “Petr kicked my legs and took me down, and still [I] won. So yeah, I’m answering questions little by little.”
Yan struggled with O’Malley’s rangy striking, but the Russian countered by mixing in takedowns with his attacks, which made for a closely-contested bout. To his credit, O’Malley defended multiple shots and was able to return to his feet when he was planted on the canvas.
“He was as good as I thought he was,” O’Malley said. “He was the No. 1 guy in the world. Pretty sure he was in the Top 15 pound-for-pound rankings. The dude’s a killer.”
When all was said and done, O’Malley and Yan received “Fight of the Night” honors for their memorable scrap. While he would prefer a cleaner performance, O’Malley knows it was important to show the world that he can dig deep to win a fight.
“I don’t want to get hit ever,” O’Malley said. “It’s not healthy. It’s not good to get punched on the head. It’s not good for you to have headaches. Ideally, I go in there and not get hit. But I think it makes it even sweeter, the story -- I really had to show my heart.
“I got to go deep. I had to go somewhere mentally and physically I’ve never been before, and that’s what happens when you fight the best guys in the world.”
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