"He feels he has advantages in certain areas" - Daniel Cormier explains what could work in Sean O'Malley's favor against Petr Yan
Daniel Cormier is excited to see the upcoming bantamweight clash between Sean O'Malley and former champion Petr Yan. O'Malley and Yan are set to lock horns at the upcoming UFC 280 pay-per-view on October 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Sean O’Malley is set to face off vs. Petr Yan on Oct. 22 at UFC 280, O'malley announced in an interview with @Realrclark25 👀 https://t.co/wNFWM6Tysh
Yan is by far the toughest opponent of O'Malley's career thus far and fans are excited to see how he fares against a former champ and one of the most dominant fighters in the division. Cormier lauded O'Malley for being brave and accepting such a big jump in competition.
Having said that, 'DC' feels that 'Sugar' knows he has some advantages over Yan that will factor in their upcoming clash. Cormier pointed out that O'Malley has a reach advantage over Yan which he can use to his advantage to maintain range and land strikes when the Russian enters the pocket.
He also pointed out that compared to other fighters in the top five of the division, Yan is a better stylistic matchup for O'Malley. He explained that like O'Malley, Yan is also a striker so 'Sugar' is unlikely to face a takedown threat. He also pointed out that Yan is a slow starter and will be at a disadvantage if he starts slowly in a three-round fight.
During a recent episode of ESPN MMA's DC & RC Show, Cormier said:
"He feels he has advantages in certain areas. One, he's longer, two, Petr Yan's a boxer. Sean O'Malley's a boxer, he's probably thinking to himself, 'This is the most manageable match up for me in the top five'... Another factor in this matchup that I wouldn't say it plays to Sean's advantage but it makes it a little bit better for him is that this isn't five rounds. We have seen Petr Yan start slow and then calculate his way through the later rounds and then dominate... You can't start slow in a 15-minute fight so maybe he takes more risks..."
Watch the podcast below:
Dana White was initially skeptical about booking Sean O'Malley vs. Petr Yan
Here are the opening odds for Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley:
Petr Yan -400 (1/4)
Sean O’Malley +300 (3/1)
(odds via @betonline_ag) 👀 #UFC280 https://t.co/LVfOqwDqii
Dana White wasn't initially sold on the idea of a potential matchup between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan. UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby was the first one to pitch the idea to White and the UFC supremo's first reaction was to ask Shelby if he was out of his mind.
However, Shelby later explained to White that O'Malley wants the fight and that he's in his prime and his skillset matches well against Yan's and that's when the 52-year-old relented and the matchup was made official. During a post-fight press conference after the debut episode of the sixth season of Dana White's Contender Series, the UFC president said:
"Sean Shelby wanted that fight. I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? You don’t make that fight now.' He told me why he’d make it and O’Malley’s ready. You know, O’Malley’s about to be 28 years old in October, in his absolute prime right now, hits like a truck. He ended up selling me on it. And more importantly, both guys wanted it."