O’Malley: Yan is ‘probably one of my favorite fighters to watch in the UFC right now’

Sean O’Malley heaps praise on Petr Yan following his decision victory against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267.

Sean O’Malley has nothing but praise for Petr Yan following his hard-fought unanimous decision victory against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267.

Yan put on a technical masterclass in the UFC 267 co-main event to clinch the interim bantamweight title but many fans consider the Russian fighter the true champion of the division.

O’Malley looks forward to fighting Yan for the belt someday and admits ‘No Mercy’ is one of his favorite fighters to watch in the UFC right now.

“He’s probably one of my favourite fighters to watch in the UFC right now,” O’Malley said on a recent episode of the TimboSugaShow (h/t Jordan Ellis of Low Kick MMA).

“Adaptability,” O’Malley listed as Yan’s greatest strength. “I mean it’s boxing, obviously, but the way he can f*cking adapt to losing to Aljo (Aljamain Sterling) in the first, losing to Cory (Sandhagen) in the first, losing to Jose Aldo in the first, and getting outstruck massively. So, it’s cool though. It’s good to see all this. It just gives us a better game plan because me and Petr are going to fight someday and it’s going to be a massive fight.”

Yan is expected to fight Sterling in a title unification bout sometime in the first quarter of 2022. Their first title fight at UFC 259 resulted in a DQ loss for Yan after he landed an illegal knee on Sterling in the fourth round. ‘Funk Master’ credited his rival for fighting a ‘beautiful fight’ against Sandhagen at UFC 267.