Daniel Cormier reveals Petr Yan may be looking to leave UFC as organization didn't "have his back" at UFC 280 - "I'm hearing word that this guy may wanna look at something different down the line"
Petr Yan's split-decision loss to Sean O'Malley at UFC 280 was quite controversial, as many felt that the Russian did enough to win the fight. Former UFC double champion and current mixed martial arts analyst Daniel Cormier shared that Yan could be looking to leave the promotion.
UFC280 Official Scorecard: Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA)
All Scorecards: ufc.ac/3CWSM8t
[@VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi] https://t.co/gW4o2BI7ua
During the most recent episode of DC & RC, the UFC Hall of Famer stated:
"Petr Yan is so disappointed in this decision. Petr Yan is so disappointed in the decision against Aljo that I'm hearing word that this guy may want to look at something different down the line in terms of his career because he just does not feel like maybe the organization doesn't have his back. It's crazy."
Following the controversial decision by the judges, outrage poured in from both fans and fellow fighters. Yan took to Twitter after the fight with a simple three-worded message to share his thoughts on the decision.
Check out the tweet below:
Fuck the judges!
While O'Malley did have a 84-58 advantage in significant strikes, Yan had nearly six minutes of total ground control and successfully took O'Malley down six times. He also possessed a slight 97-91 advantage in total strikes.
Watch Daniel Cormier discuss Petr Yan's future following his controversial UFC 280 loss below (starting at the 40:20 mark):
Dana White shares his thoughts on Petr Yan's controversial UFC 280 loss to Sean O'Malley
Petr Yan might be ready to leave the UFC following his controversial loss to Sean O'Malley. UFC president Dana White, however, did share that he disagreed with the decisions of the judges following the controversial result.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, White stated:
"It was one of those razor thin close fights. I could see people saying Yan won the fight and I could see people saying O'Malley won the fight. What's weird is it wasn't the way I thought it was with the judges' scorecard. I thought, depending on who you gave the first round to, determined who won the fight, but that was not the case apparently."
UFC 280 is not the first time that both Yan and White have disagreed with the judges. Yan also lost his UFC 273 title fight against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling via split decision.
White looked visibly disappointed as Sterling was named the winner. In the post-fight press conference appearance, he said:
"I thought the judges blew that one. I had it 3-2 the other way around. I don't know how you guys scored it. I guess it's all in how you score that first round."
Both times that Yan has been aggravated by the decision of the judges, the UFC president has agreed. It remains to be seen if anything materializes from Yan's alleged desire to depart from the promotion.