Sean O’Malley proves his critics wrong as he edges out an incredibly close fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280. When this fight was made, fans wondered why the UFC was putting up a fight against the no. 1 contender in the 135lbs division against someone who was ranked outside the top 10. But they have their answer now, as the pair puts on one of the best fights of the Year 2022.
The first round was a bit slow, to begin with. Both Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan had to respect each other’s power. Despite that, both landed a lot of good strikes. But Yan was the one to land a takedown right at the end of the round. But O’Malley countered it in a beautiful scramble. However, it was the second round which brought down the house.
THE BIGGEST WIN OF @SUGASEANMMA‘S CAREER!! 🍬 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/NKHUYagNjM
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022
Sean started things off with a massive right hand that rocked the former champ. As Petr started to backpaddle, O’Malley landed a lot of significant strikes. But he could not connect with his full power as Yan started to recover. The Russian then came back to land a massive hook himself that buckled O’Malley. Taking advantage of that, he landed 3 takedowns in the round as well.
In round 3, Sugar Sean landed a big head kick which busted up Yan. But it did not slow down Petr as he spammed Sean with one takedown attempt after another. The fight ended with Yan raining down punches on a grounded O’Malley. Hence, the fans expected Yan to walk away with the win. But in a shocking decision, It was O’Malley who got the win.
UFC280 Official Scorecard: Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA)
— UFC News (@UFCNews) October 22, 2022
All Scorecards: https://t.co/vRLWflw4pS
[@VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi] pic.twitter.com/gW4o2BI7ua
Two judges scored it 28-29 for O’Malley, while one judge had it 29-28 for Petr Yan.
Fans react to Sean O’Malley beating Petr Yan at UFC 280
The result should not have been as shocking if the fans knew the stats. In total, Sean O’Malley landed 84 significant strikes out of an attempted 163 strikes. In contrast, Petr Yan landed 58 significant strikes out of an attempted 96. On the other hand, Yan landed a total of 6 takedowns, whereas Sean landed none.
What. A. Fight 🥊
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 22, 2022
Sean O’Malley defeats Petr Yan to move to 16-1 🤯 pic.twitter.com/I8EdrcoUBA
In terms of damage, it looked like both fighters did an equal amount of damage to each other. However, if fans on Twitter are to be believed, they feel Petr Yan was robbed against O’Malley at UFC 280.
Here are some Twitter reactions to the fight
He didn’t defeat anyone lmao
— Aye Zee 🥷🏾 (@ImHipAzad) October 22, 2022
Great fight but judges on crack
— mma – mcfc – twolves – vikings (@supacityzen) October 22, 2022
love suga but robbery I fear
— 📌 (@darwinsburner) October 22, 2022
classic UFC fixed fight
— DANIEL JONES SZN (@Jake_0223) October 22, 2022
What are your thoughts on the fight? Did you think Sean O’Malley deserved to win? Or, do you think Petr Yan’s loss was unfair? Let us know in the comments down below.