Sean O'Malley declares Petr Yan bantamweight GOAT, 'as good as it gets'

Former UFC champion Sean O’Malley has changed his tune on the greatest bantamweight of all time.

O’Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) went from calling Aljamain Sterling No. 1, to Merab Dvalishvili, and now newly crowned UFC champion Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC).

O’Malley knocked out Sterling to become UFC bantamweight champion but eventually lost his belt to Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who beat him twice. But after Yan ended Dvalishvili’s title reign at UFC 323, O’Malley has a new pick for bantamweight GOAT.

“I thought Aljo was the greatest of all time. I went out there and beat him,” O’Malley said on “One Night with Steiny.” “Merab goes on this crazy streak, I’m like, ‘God, Merab is the greatest of all time.’ Then Petr comes back, looks insane against Merab, I’m like, ‘Petr is the greatest bantamweight of all time.’ I do have a lot of respect for Petr.”

O’Malley holds a pivotal win over Yan at UFC 280 in 2022. He was able to rebound from back-to-back title losses to Dvalishvili with wins over Song Yadong and most recently a knockout of Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250.

While he acknowledges that Dvalishvili deserves a trilogy bout with Yan, he sees a rematch with Yan delivering the biggest numbers. O’Malley had high praise for his former opponent.

“People in the community, people that know fighting know how skilled Petr Yan is,” O’Malley said. “He’s as good as it gets at MMA. He’s up there with Ilia Topuria level skill, Jon Jones. He’s all-around great everywhere.”