Dana White says he wasn’t a fan of making Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley at this time.
At UFC 280 on October 22nd in Abu Dhabi, Yan and O’Malley will finally fight after the two have been going back and forth for quite some time. Despite the fact that the two are big stars and that want to fight one another, White says it took Sean Shelby pleading to him to make the fight as he didn’t like the matchup.
Setting Up Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley
“We were in matchmaking and Sean Shelby actually came up with that fight. Sean Shelby wanted that fight. I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? You don’t make that fight now’,” Dana White said while speaking to the media after the Season 6 premiere of Dana White’s Contender Series. “He told me why he’d make it and O’Malley’s ready. You know, O’Malley’s about to be 28 years old in October, in his absolute prime right now, hits like a truck.”
“He ended up selling me on it,” the UFC president continued. “And more importantly, both guys wanted it. And even more important than that, when we announced it, everybody went crazy and loves it. And even more important than that, it should be f*****g a really good fight.”
Sean O’Malley Talks About Facing Petr Yan
Now that the fight is booked, it already is trending to be a massive fight and one that is pivotal for the bantamweight division. O’Malley is also confident he has all the tools to upset Yan and prove he is as good as he is.
“I believe I’m better than Petr at what we’re going to do,” O’Malley said to ESPN, “and that’s f*****g fighting. I’m better than Petr, and I truly believe that. I think that is what is going to get the job done. I’m going to go in there more prepared than Petr, I’m going to go in there and do what I do… Obviously putting Petr’s lights out would be massive but I just need to go in there and get the job done against Petr Yan.”
“Three, five minutes rounds,” O’Mally went on, “he’s the best dude I’ve fought hands down. I’m very excited for the opportunity, I just believe I’m going to be better, on October 22nd, against Petr.”
O’Malley is coming off the “no contest” result against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on July 2. In April, Yan lost in a bantamweight title fight rematch with Aljamain Sterling, headling UFC 273.
