Sean O’Malley vs Marlon Vera 2 is undoubtedly a big fight because of the historical rivalry between the two bantamweight. Petr Yan though is not happy.
Petr Yan has been away from action for over a year now, as the Russian took some time away from fighting to try and rediscover his desire to compete.
His last fight came against Merab Dvalishvili in which he was utterly dominated over five rounds of relentless action. That was enough for the 31-year-old to step away and reassess his options moving forward.
Yan and O’Malley shared the cage back in 2022, and the decision resulted in controversy because of how close the fight was. To this day, fans are still split in their opinions of who won the fight.
Despite that, the Russian believes that both O’Malley and Vera were ‘gifted’ this fight, and O’Malley picked Vera because he ‘knows’ he can’t beat any other top contenders.
At the UFC 299 media day, Yan said: “I think Marlon Vera got a gift, this title shot got gifted because he lost to Cory Sandhagen. It’s not for me to decide who is the title challenger but I’m seriously in the mood to get back into the title picture.
“Sean just picked a contender he could beat because he knows he doesn’t believe he can beat any other top contenders in the division.”
Petr Yan was keen to remind everyone of how close his fight with O’Malley was and believes even that was gifted to the superstar.
“Just to remind everyone how he got his title shot because he got gifted the decision in a fight against me.” Yan said.
Petr Yan’s eyes set on Song Yadong at UFC 299
Yan’s fight coming up at UFC 299 this weekend is against Song Yadong, and the two were previously rumored to have been fighting this past December, in China.
Yadong did in fact fight in December, but it took place at the UFC Apex where he defeated Chris Gutierrez over a five-round decision.
At the UFC 299 media day, Yan admitted he has found the desire to compete again and is looking to re-enter the bantamweight title picture with a win.
“I didn’t have the desire to fight in December, I found out about this fight online and had the desire to fight on UFC 299.”
Potential for O’Malley and Yan to run it back
Because of how controversial and close their first battle was, there is undoubtedly potential for the two to meet again. Whether that be for undisputed bantamweight gold or in a contender fight, there are a few paths that lead these two back to each other.
If Petr Yan can rediscover the championship desire he once possessed, he has the capability of beating anyone in the bantamweight division and then he would likely only be one step away from a title fight.
Even if Marlon Vera upsets the apple cart this weekend at UFC 299 and becomes the new champion, it could make sense for O’Malley’s next fight to be against Yan.
The bantamweight division is arguably the deepest in the sport, but there is palpable interest in O’Malley and Yan running back their first fight and giving us another instant classic.