🗣️ Petr Yan: “I don’t know what’s going on” [Sean O’Malley]. He’ll be out for 9-12 months, but maybe he’s pregnant.” 😭😭
🎥 @Ariel Helwani
#UFC
#mixed martial arts
pic.twitter.com/IAI5XFsiOB
— Championship Round (@ChampRDS)
December 3, 2024
Petr Yan is planning a rematch with Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley earned a title shot with a hard-fought split decision win over Yan at UFC 280 in 2022. “Suga” won the bantamweight title the following year by knocking out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. O’Malley then defended the title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March of this year, but lost the title to Merab Dvalishvili in a lopsided decision at UFC 306 in September.
Yan is aiming for a rematch with O’Malley, but the Russian is concerned about the former champion’s lack of activity. Yan jokingly wondered if the more than nine month gap between O’Malley’s matches meant the former champion was pregnant.
“I’m leaning towards a rematch with Sean O’Malley,” Yan told Ariel Helwani. “But we don’t know what’s going on with him. He’s been out for nine to 12 months, so maybe he got pregnant.”
O’Malley has since responded to Yan’s jab, and it appears the Russian is not at the top of his list of opponents.
We expect this to occur in the beginning of the second quarter. Against Merab. Thank you for your question. https://t.co/igEkdTCVO4
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA)
December 3, 2024
Yan’s title reign ended with an infamous illegal knee disqualification loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 in 2021. Yan bounced back with a decision win over Cory Sandhagen, but was unable to regain the title in a rematch with “The Funk Master” the following year. Yan then dropped back-to-back decisions against O’Malley and Dvalishvili, making it his third straight loss. However, the former champion has since returned to title contention with back-to-back decision wins over Yadong Song and Deiveson Figueiredo.
