Morning Report: Sean O’Malley remembers Petr Yan saying ‘I’m going to eat you’ before classic fight

Sean O’Malley is no stranger to trash talk, but there’s one piece of pre-fight chatter that’s stuck with him years later.

On a recent episode of Israel Adesanya’s Young Man Ramble show, O’Malley and Adesanya spoke about how the dealt with pressure during their rise up the UFC ranks. Both fighters have worn UFC titles around their waist and O’Malley can join Adesanya among the ranks of two-time champions when he rematches Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 316 next Saturday.

To earn his first title shot—which turned out to be a knockout win over Aljamain Sterling—O’Malley had to defeat Petr Yan at UFC 280 in 2022, a former champion widely expected to run through the still unproven O’Malley. O’Malley will never forget the aura Yan carried into that fight nor the interaction they had prior to the event.

“Petr Yan’s still probably one of the most scariest dudes in the division,” O’Malley said. “Like, Merab’s one of the best at winning fights. Petr Yan is someone that’s going to f*cking elbow you, knock you out, hurt you, cut you, beat the f*ck out of you. … When we were fighting in Abu Dhabi, I think when we walked past him, what did he say? ‘I’m going to eat you’ or something.

“That one I was, like, ‘Holy f*ck. This is the shit I dreamed of.’ I was ranked 11, he was ranked No. 1. It was crazy because literally No. 2 through 10 were all fighting each other. The only person in the division after the Pedro Munhoz fight—it was a no-contest, I supposedly eye-poked him—it was Petr Yan. It was like, this is it. This is the f*cking time.”

O’Malley and Yan threw down in a brutal three-round contest, with both fighters scoring knockdowns and the result ending up as a razor-thin decision win for “Suga.” Whether one agreed with the result or not, O’Malley earned a ton of respect for going the distance with one of the three best bantamweights in the world, and then went on to defeat Sterling to become UFC champion.

Ahead of the fight, Yan was a comfortable favorite and O’Malley made sure to use the online chatter and legion of doubters as motivation.

“I remember the first time I fought Petr Yan, there was the ‘pros picks’ and I was such a f*cking huge underdog,” O’Malley said. “I remember hitting my hardest sprints, 12-speed, 10-incline, hitting my sprints, listening to ‘Petr Yan’s going to kill him,’ ‘Sean doesn’t belong there,’ ‘Sean’s been fed everyone, he’s not going to be able to…’ That shit just f*cking fueled me.

“Then I fought Aljo and it was even worse. I was not supposed to win that fight. I just got so much f*cking fuel from people hating. So it’s weird how they’re trying to make you feel a negative feeling, but when we get positive from it, it’s like [motivation].”

Sigh. Jon Jones… still isn’t speaking with any certainty on whether he will or won’t fight again.

Phew. Merab Dvalishvili wants everyone to know his toe is just fine ahead of his UFC 316 title defense.

Annoyed. Maycee Barber calls Erin Blanchfield “ignorant” for thinking she won’t show up at UFC Vegas 107.

Change. O’Malley swore off a few vices ahead of his rematch with Dvalishvili.

Innocent? Brazilian fighter Delberty Lamark denies that his recent six-second knockout loss was the result of fight fixing.

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Kayla Harrison’s most recent fight before her upcoming UFC 316 title shot.

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Dope.

No explanation needed.

Daniel Zellhuber (15-2) vs. Michael Johnson (23-19); UFC 318, July 19

We’re a week away from UFC 316, but we have a not-too-bad card at UFC APEX coming up Saturday night.

Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber with a title shot possibly on the line. Mateusz Gamrot giving surging lightweight Ludovit Klein a chance to take his spot. Plus some potentially fun scraps with Dustin Jacoby taking on Bruno Lopes, Jafel Filho meeting Allan Nascimento in a battle of Brazilian flyweights, and the always lively Kurt Holobaugh taking on Jordan Leavitt.

Check it out! Or don’t. I’m not your boss.

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