Petr Yan hasn’t taken too kindly to “Suga” Sean O’Malley ahead of their fight at UFC 280 Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Yan, the former UFC bantamweight champion, is looking to move one step closer toward regaining his belt, while O’Malley faces his toughest Octagon test to-date starring across from the Russian superstar.
Yan is coming off a close, controversial split decision loss to the current titleholder, Aljamain Sterling, this past spring at UFC 273.
During his media scrum, Yan was asked about O’Malley and his impressions of him as a fighter. Before even diving into a potential answer, Yan quickly put the DWCS alumni on-blast with a simple, quick-witted, and quite frankly, hilarious response.
Quote provided from MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin.
Petr Yan on Sean O'Malley:
"Just look at him, he's like a whore on the side of the road" #UFC280
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) October 20, 2022
“Just look at him, he’s like a whore on the side of the road,” Yan said.
Sean O’Malley (15-1, 1 NC) has had a meteoric rise since joining the UFC via the inaugural season of DWCS in 2017, beating names such as Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho, and Eddie Wineland, to name a few. His lone loss came against Marlon Vera in Aug. 2020. Since the defeat, he has rattled off three-straight wins, his most recent coming against Raulian Paiva in December of 2021.
As for Petr Yan, his UFC run has been impressive in itself. At 16-3, Yan has taken the bantamweight division by storm in recent years. Wins have included Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Cory Sandhagen, and many more during his four-year run in the promotion. His last three-round fight took place in Dec. 2019, where he defeated Faber by third-round KO/TKO. Since the Faber fight, his last four fights have seen him in five-rounders. The O’Malley fight will break that streak, however.
The winner of this fight is likely next in line for a shot at bantamweight gold, barring the outcome of T.J. Dillashaw vs. Aljamain Sterling in the co-main event, of course.
For now, though, only time will tell.
Who wins on Saturday? Let us know in the comments, Penn Nation.