Sean O’Malley says a second fight between himself and Petr Yan is the biggest fight in bantamweight history right now and that the UFC is taking a risk by potentially routing things through Yan vs. Dvalishvili III instead.
O’Malley spoke on the Pound 4 Pound podcast following his UFC Freedom 250 knockout of Aiemann Zahabi.
I’ve been hearing Petr and Merab are going to fight, the rematch is going to happen, for a long time. Still nothing booked. I don’t know if it’s Merab’s nose or Petr’s back. One of those guys is obviously holding it up, and I don’t think it’s Merab. I think Merab would fight with his arm cut off. So I think Petr is probably dealing with some injuries. You can’t fight Merab on half-ass camps. You need to be fully healthy to fight Merab, and Petr probably knows that.
He made the case for his own title shot directly.
If they want me vs. Petr next — I do think me vs. Petr Yan 2, rematch is the biggest fight in bantamweight history. I think it’s the biggest one you could possibly make right now, and the UFC would be risking it by making Merab vs. Petr.
O’Malley also addressed the long-term scenario in which he eventually gets a third shot at Dvalishvili.
Part of me, I know, truly, I can beat Merab. I know how the last two fights went. I know I can beat Merab, and I know if I go out there and do beat Merab, I’m undefeated. I’ve beat everybody I’ve ever fought. So, that’s definitely on my radar. And I know that fight is not necessarily — no one gives a f*ck about it. No one really wants to see it.
O’Malley defeated Yan in 2022 to win the bantamweight title before losing it to Dvalishvili. He went 2-0 in 2026 with wins over Song Yadong and Zahabi.