Chael Sonnen lauds Sean O'Malley's sportsmanship for wishing he was there to corner "emotional" Petr Yan
Chael Sonnen was impressed by Sean O'Malley's offering to step in as Petr Yan's cornerman for his UFC 273 title fight against Aljamain Sterling. Although Sonnen thinks Yan did not take O'Malley's offer seriously, he believes the American's offer was genuine.
According to 'The American Gangster', O'Malley's post-fight comments are further proof of the legitimacy of his offer. Sonnen appreciated 'Suga's' sportsmanship irrespective of how serious he was about his proposal. The 45-year old said on his YouTube channel:
"Petr Yan was in trouble not having a corner, going into a world title fight. I think 'Suga' Sean was being sincere. Now 'Suga' Sean weighed in after the fight, he said, 'I wish I would have been there. I wish I could have cornered him. Because he was way too emotional. I think I identified that early and I think I would have had the right words to calm him back down.'...I appreciated the sportsmanship that he had a genuine care and concern. And now we do know that is the guy that could be in your corner."
Both Henry Cejudo and Sean O'Malley offered to step up after Petr Yan's cornermen could not make it to Jacksonville due to visa issues ahead of UFC 273. However, both offers were withdrawn after the Russian made some off-handed comments about his star-studded corner. In the aftermath of the bout, Sean O'Malley opined that Yan had fought too emotionally.
Watch Sonnen weigh in on O'Malley's gesture below:
Sean O'Malley takes responsibility for Petr Yan's loss to Aljamain Sterling
'Suga' believes he could have prevented Petr Yan's loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273. According to O'Malley, 'No Mercy' threw "looping punches" because of an emotionally charged approach.
Claiming that he could have calmed the Russian down, the surging star took responsibility for Yan's loss. O'Malley said on The Timbo Sugar Show:
“Yan’s takedown defense considering – I mean, other than the two times that he got his back taken, is so elite. His hips, hand on the head, he’s got sick takedown defense, but he fought so emotional from the beginning of the fight. Dude, so emotional. Those looping punches, he fought super emotional and I should’ve been in his corner and told him, ‘Yo Petr, settle down, bud.’ So I’ll take that L, that was my fault.”
After going toe-to-toe in the opening round, Petr Yan was schooled on the ground by Aljamain Sterling in rounds two and three of their title unification bout. 'No Mercy' managed to mount a comeback in the championship rounds only to come up on the short side of a controversial split decision.
Watch the episode below: