Sean O’Malley wants his throne back. Song Yadong nearly played spoiler at UFC 324, but O’Malley leaned on championship mettle in the nick of time to get a crucial win in the co-main event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Oh my God! God, it feels good to win! I hate losing! F—, this feels good,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley’s post-fight outburst illustrates a tough road back for the former champion. Consecutive losses to Merab Dvalishvili rendered O’Malley winless since March 2024. Defeating Yadong on Saturday was paramount to proving that O’Malley is still one of the best bantamweights in the world.
“The Suga Show” started strong. O’Malley flummoxed Yadong with fleet footwork and hyper-quick counterstrikes. He couldn’t replicate such success in Round 2. Yadong took the fight to O’Malley, chewing up his leg and ragdolling him with wrestling. The fight was tied heading into the final frame with momentum firmly on the underdog’s side.
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There are levels to MMA, and O’Malley exercised this just in time. The volume and power behind his strikes increased noticeably. O’Malley bloodied Song’s face, landing more significant strikes in Round 3 than he had in the prior two rounds combined. The outcome: three 29-28 scorecards in favor of O’Malley.
“Petr Yan has something that I want,” O’Malley said during his post-fight speech. “All respect to Merab [Dvalishvili], if he gets the next shot, it’s well deserved, but Petr Yan, you want that rematch, and I want that belt. Let’s make it happen. Go take care of Merab, if that’s what’s next. If not, let’s run it, baby!”
O’Malley’s third-round performance might have saved his case for the next title shot. There are three fighters in the running to challenge bantamweight champ Yan: O’Malley, Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov’s forgettable win over Deivson Figueiredo could remove him from the immediate running, while Dvalishvili and O’Malley campaign for the next title shot.
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