Sean O'Malley hints at fighting Petr Yan after Aljamain Sterling is ruled out of UFC 267 title fight

Sean O'Malley (left), Petr Yan (right) [Images courtesy @sugaseanmma @petr_yan on Instagram]

With Aljamain Sterling falling out of his upcoming fight with Petr Yan, Sean O'Malley has hinted that he may step in as a replacement.

O'Malley has repeatedly called Yan out in the past, which instantly creates a narrative behind a potential matchup.

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A post shared by Петр "No Mercy" Ян (@petr_yan)

As per MMA Fighting, Aljamain Sterling has dropped out of his first title defense. His rematch with Petr Yan was set to take place at UFC 267. The champ's withdrawal leaves challenger and former champion Yan in limbo with the fight date only weeks away.

Sean O'Malley initially appeared to be targeting a return to the UFC octagon in December, with Brian Kelleher amongst the names touted as potential opponents. However, he recently posted the following to his Twitter account:

Hi @PetrYanUFC

Sean O'Malley is not currently ranked. However, he has a huge following, with his most recent fight opening the main card of UFC 264, a pay-per-view that was headlined by MMA superstar Conor McGregor.

Petr Yan, meanwhile, lost the title to Aljamain Sterling after being disqualified due to an illegal knee. Sterling received heavy backlash after the fight, with many fans and fighters believing that he pretended to be hurt in order to get the win.

Does Sean O'Malley deserve a shot against Petr Yan?

If Sean O'Malley does fight Yan, he would essentially be skipping the entire top 15 and jumping straight into a likely interim title clash. With the UFC opting to slowly build his brand against primarily unranked opposition, O'Malley is currently sitting without a number next to his name.

That is not to say that Sean O'Malley isn't an elite mixed martial artist. His performances against Kris Moutinho, Thomas Almeida and Eddie Wineland were incredible, with the latter two providing highlight reel finishes.

However, Sean O'Malley did come up short against Marlon 'Chito' Vera, who was able to finish him in the first round. Due to the method of victory, which saw 'Suga' suffer a leg injury as a result of leg kicks, O'Malley has stated that he does not count it as a true loss, much to the dislike of many i the MMA community.

Sean O'Malley is certainly good enough to compete at the highest level. However, it would be completely unfair on the rest of the division for him to simply jump right to the top.