Petr Yan Slams UFC for “Trying to Squeeze” Sean O’Malley Into an Undeserved Title Shot
Petr Yan is scheduled to fight Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event of UFC 333 this Saturday. The fight will take place inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, and the hype around it is massive.
Yan will be making his first title defence since winning the belt by beating Dvalishvili last year in December. Earlier this year, Petr Yan went through a nine-hour-long lumbar and lumbosacral spine surgery.
Given the injury, many fans and experts have questioned his ability to perform against the former champion. On top of that, top contender Sean O’Malley will have a close look at the winner of this fight.
In a recent interview, Yan was asked about potentially fighting O’Malley if he manages to go through Dvalishvili. However, the Russian doesn’t consider ‘Suga’ as the appropriate challenger to his throne.
“Honestly, UFC tried to pull Sean O’Malley by his bootstraps since the very beginning; they gave him 2-3 fights against Merab. They raised this chicken to lay eggs for so long, and they trying to squeeze as many eggs out of it as possible. I think Song Yadong is more deserving of a title fight,” said Petr Yan via UFC.
O’Malley lost the bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili back in 2024 and failed to capture it back in the rematch. Since then, the fighter has won two back-to-back fights against Song Yadong and Aiemann Zahabi.
On the other hand, Song Yadong is also on a two-fight win streak, beating the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo and Umar Nurmagomedov. This Saturday, the co-main event can make things clear about who will be the next contender.
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Sean talks about his biggest regret in UFC
Sean O’Malley loss to Merab Dvalishvili came after the fighter went through surgery and later blamed it. According to the American, he gave in to the pressure of headlining the UFC Sphere event, which ultimately backfired.
“Biggest regret of my career is getting surgery and fighting Merab again 6 or 7 months after he was coming off a victory over Umar. I was nowhere near where I needed to be, and he was extra confident…,” said Sean O’Malley via YouTube.
According to O’Malley, with Petr Yan coming back from the injury, he might not be fully ready for the challenge. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see who wins this Saturday in the main event of UFC 333.
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