Sean O’Malley believes Petr Yan’s injury situation is the primary reason a UFC bantamweight trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili has not been booked, and used his own experience of fighting Dvalishvili through a torn labrum to strengthen his push for the next title shot.
O’Malley spoke on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, reported by MMA Junkie.
I’ve been hearing Petr and Merab are going to fight for a long time, still nothing booked. I don’t know if it’s Merab’s nose or Petr’s back. It sucks. 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 just dealing with some injuries.
He contrasted Yan’s caution with his own approach.
I fought Merab knowing I was getting surgery after with a torn labrum. Still, it was a close fight, and then I get the surgery and fight Merab again seven months later, just wanting to be back, just wanting the belt back. You can’t fight Merab on half-assed camps. You need to be fully healthy to fight Merab, and Petr probably knows that. So he’s taking his time, as he should. He is the champ.
O’Malley is coming off a knockout of Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250 and views a second fight with Yan as the biggest available fight in the division.