Sean O'Malley discusses Petr Yan's recent skid
Sean O'Malley's controversial split decision victory over Petr Yan at UFC 280 is one of three consecutive fights the former bantamweight champion has lost. The No.2-ranked bantamweight weighed in on the latest loss suffered by 'No Mercy', in which he was dominated by Merab Dvalishvili.
Speaking on his podcast, TimboSugarShow, 'Sugar' stated:
"I genuinely in my heart felt bad for Petr. After, I’m like, 'God d**n it'. You go from just the scariest - Dustin Poirier saying you're the best boxer, you're on the pound-for-pound list, you're the baddest dude in the division, people are terrified of you. Then you f**king illegally knee Aljo. Then you lose a close fight to Aljo. Then you get beat by me."
Sean O'Malley continued:
"I felt like he looked a little different in there, but it also might be that’s how good Merab is. Merab might have just made him look like that. I just saw it and I’m like, d**n, I took a little something from Petr, I feel like."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments on Petr Yan below (starting at the 6:41 mark):
Petr Yan lost the bantamweight title at UFC 259 after being disqualified for illegally kneeing Aljamain Sterling, who was downed. After defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 to become the interim champion, he was defeated by 'Funk Master' via split decision at UFC 273. After losing via split decision to Sean O'Malley at UFC 280, 'No Mercy' was dominated by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Fight Night 221, losing all five rounds on all three judges' scorecards.
Sean O'Malley's controversial split decision victory over Petr Yan embarrassed 'No Mercy', claims 'Sugar'
Petr Yan is in the midst of the worst stretch of his career as he has lost four out of his past five bouts. While three of those losses were closely contested, his latest bout against Merab Dvalishvili resulted in pure dominance. Sean O'Malley recently shared that he believes 'No Mercy' was so embarrassed by losing to him that he took the fight against 'The Machine', stating:
"I think he was so, I’m gonna say, embarrassed that he lost to me - which he shouldn’t be, I’m f**king pretty skilled, but you don’t want to lose to me. I got f**king pink hair... He was so embarrassed that he lost to me that he wanted that [win] back so bad and the division’s booked... Merab was the only one. That just shows you how f**king gangster Petr is."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (starting at the 8:17 mark):
While it is unclear what will come next for Yan, O'Malley suggested that he faces a lesser opponent to get back in the win column and build confidence. Despite online suggestions that the No.4-ranked bantamweight should be cut from the roster, that appears to be unlikely.