"Want to beat me up while you wait for a rematch?" - Sean O'Malley calls out Petr Yan
'Sugar' Sean O'Malley has been making waves for the last couple of years with his walk-off knockouts.
A personal favorite of UFC president Dana White and fans alike, O'Malley was riding a 12-fight unbeaten streak until he suffered his first loss to Marlon 'Chito' Vera at UFC 262.
He was diagnosed with drop foot, which he cited as the cause for his loss, and famously still possesses an undefeated mindset. He bounced back at UFC 260 with a knockout win over Thomas Almeida.
Sean O'Malley competes in the bantamweight division of the UFC, which has seen more than its fair share of drama recently.
Petr Yan became the first champion in UFC history to lose his belt via disqualification after an illegal knee to his opponent Aljamain Sterling in the co-main event of UFC 259.
Sterling threw the belt in the octagon, signifying he didn't want to win the title that way, but has since gone on a social media rampage to claim rightful ownership of the bantamweight gold. This hasn't been well recieved, to say the least.
Aljamain Sterling recently announced that he's going to need surgery for an injury that has been troubling him for nearly 10 years.
This has received extreme reactions from MMA fans and experts alike; some feel he needs to go through with the procedure while others think he's using it as a way to avoid an immediate rematch with Petr Yan.
Many feel the fight between Yan and Sterling should have been called a no contest. There is also a case to be made for Aljamain Sterling being stripped of the title if he's going to be out of action for at least the next six months. Petr Yan could find himself fighting for an interim title while the current champion recovers.
A potential fight between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan:
Amidst all this, Sean O'Malley tweeted to Yan, asking the former champion if he'd be interested in beating up 'Sugar' Sean while he waits for Sterling to recover:
Clearly, Sean O'Malley knows how to get the hype going. Despite it being a huge step up for him, it would be a massive step down for the former champion.
The Russian is the number one-ranked bantamweight in the world and was riding a 10-fight winning streak in the UFC before his DQ loss to Aljamain Sterling.
Sean O'Malley has a 4-1 record in the company and is still officially unranked. While he possesses all the makings of a future top contender, he's not one yet.
Talk of the fight may have set tongues wagging, but it has much more to offer for the unranked Sean O'Malley than for the former champion Petr Yan.
Perhaps O'Malley could get a crack at Yan in the future, but we don't see it happening anytime soon.