UFC fans loved Petr Yan’s reaction to a question about Sean O’Malley after his latest win.
The former bantamweight champion seemingly put himself in line for a shot at current 135lb king Merab Dvalishvili by easily outpointing Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau on Saturday.
Yan’s latest win makes it two in a row since he snapped his three-fight losing streak, which included a very controversial split decision defeat against O’Malley in October 2022.
‘Suga’ went on to win the belt by knocking out Aljamain Sterling, but he’s currently looking for a route back to the top after losing it to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September.
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Petr Yan issues cold response to Sean O’Malley question
Umar Nurmagomedov appeared to be next in line for a bantamweight title shot before Petr Yan put on a flawless performance against the former two-time flyweight champion.
The Russian fan-favorite believes he’s done enough to leapfrog Nurmagomedov, whose 18-0 record has just one high-profile win over somebody Yan has also beaten, Cory Sandhagen
During a post-fight press conference, Yan was asked if he would entertain rematches with O’Malley and Sandhagen.
‘No Mercy’ lived up to his nickname as he gave a cold response to the question, he said: “I already beat both Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen. I beat them before.”
Footage of Yan still contesting his defeat to O’Malley four years later quickly went viral on social media, and earned countless comments from fans who thought he was ‘robbed’ against the rainbow-haired KO artist.
One person tweeted: “Yan’s speaking facts.”
Another said: “He’s right.”
Someone else added: “No lie here.”
A fourth fan commented: “And he’s right. He was robbed af against O’Malley.”
Petr Yan wants to rematch Merab Dvalishvili next
Petr Yan used his post-fight mic time to send a message to Merab Dvalishvili, who won every round when they clashed at UFC Fight Night 221 in March 2023.
He said during an interview with Michael Bisping: “Hey guys, before my fight, Merab said that Deiveson Figueiredo was the number one contender who deserved the title fight – I want to say to Merab, what do you say now?!
“When I’ve beaten the number one contender in my division, I want to do a rematch with Merab – let’s get him!”
Dvalishvili hasn’t responded directly to the callout, although he was posting throughout the UFC Macau main event: “What a great fight,” he wrote on X, followed by “I’m impressed [by] Petr Yan’s performance tonight.”
Yan replied: “Let’s do it again! I promise fans won’t be disappointed.”
He added about his win over Figueiredo: “I think it wasn’t bad after 8 months layoff and knee surgery. Thanks to everyone who supported me.”
from Bloody Elbow https://ift.tt/mwt4h23
