Sean O’Malley: Petr Yan title rematch is ‘biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history’

Sean O’Malley is perplexed by the idea that Song Yadong would be ahead of him in the queue for UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.

Yan (21-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) defended gold in Saturday’s UFC 333 co-headliner when he outworked Merab Dvalishvilifor a unanimous decision in their anticipated trilogy bout in Abu Dhabi. O’Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was watching closely, expecting to be called out and pushed as the next contender.

Not only was he not mentioned, it was Song (24-9-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC), who O’Malley beat by unanimous decision at UFC 324 in January, who was mentioned by color commentator Daniel Cormier, as well as Yan himself.

“That was anticlimactic,” O’Malley said in his UFC 333 reaction video on YouTube. “DC, I don’t know what he’s thinking. Song Yadong? I’m trying to wrap my head around it, ‘Maybe he is next?’ I beat him like six months ago, seven months ago. January.

“I’m fighting Petr Yan next. Even if they announce Petr vs. Song, I’m still fighting Petr next. That’s how much I’m fighting Petr next. I don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s got to be me vs. Petr. Song fought Petr on one of my undercards when I defended the championship, and Petr beat Song. I beat Petr. I beat Song. It’s got to be me vs. Petr, in the United States, early Q2, late Q1. Book it.”

Since their UFC 324 fight, O’Malley has gone on to score a knockout win over Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, while Song has submitted Deiveson Figueiredo and knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov.

Regardless, a rematch between Yan and O’Malley has been brewing for more than four years. They first met at UFC 280 in October 2022, with O’Malley winning a highly debated split decision in the Fight of the Night.

Now there’s an opportunity to run it back over five rounds with a title on the line, and O’Malley can’t see UFC resisting that opportunity.

“It gives me this good anxiety, this good nervousness,” O’Malley said. “I’m locked in. I’ve been locked in since the last fight knowing I might be fighting Petr Yan again. We’re staying locked in whenever the fight is. It’s going to be the greatest, the biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history. I don’t know when, I don’t know where, but I know it’s going to happen.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean O’Malley: Petr Yan title rematch is ‘biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history’