Sean O'Malley to face Petr Yan at UFC 280

Dec 11, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Sean O'Malley reacts following his TKO victory against Raulian Paiva during UFC 269 at T-Mobile Arena. Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Sean O'Malley set to face Petr Yan at UFC 280

By Chelena Goldman | Last updated 7/20/22

The stage for UFC 280 has now been set, with Sean O'Malley telling ESPN's Ryan Clark that he will square off against former bantamweight champion Petr Yan in Abu Dhabi this October.

.@SugaSeanMMA announced during an interview with @Realrclark25 that he will fight @PetrYanUFC next at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi pic.twitter.com/MDiRGLZNuW
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 20, 2022

"I'm getting the fight that I wanted and the fight that the people want," O'Malley told Clark. "In my eyes, Petr is the No. 1 contender right now."

The 27-year-old fighting out of Glendale, Arizona is 7-1 with one no contest in the UFC. That no contest came in UFC 276 when the fight against Pedro Munhoz had a medical stoppage because of an accidental eye poke that obstructed Munhoz's vision.

Yan, 29, enters October's bout coming off a loss in UFC 273 in April to Aljamain Sterling, which was a rematch for the bantamweight title. He is 8-2 in the UFC and has a 16-3 professional record.

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