Sean O'Malley

'Suga' battled his toughest test to date in a slugfest with the former champion.

I don't know," O'Malley said. But the former champion, who worked a steady diet of calf and body kicks throughout, then responded to being stunned by a left cross in Round 2 by winding up for a left-hand haymaker of his own seconds later to rock O'Malley. "I was a little surprised [Yan chose to wrestle]," O'Malley said. But I was rocked." The post-fight statistics largely fell in O'Malley's favor after outlanding Yan 85 to 76 in total strikes and 69 to 51 in significant strikes. 1 guy in the world."

At UFC 280, Sean O'Malley took what many called a "big step up" – and he controversially walked away the winner against Petr Yan.

Lina Lansberg via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-dillashaw-play-by-play-live-results”) AJ Dobson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-dillashaw-play-by-play-live-results”) [Muhammad Mokaev def. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-dillashaw-play-by-play-live-results”) [Armen Petrosyan def. Makhmud Muradov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-dillashaw-play-by-play-live-results”) [Nikita Krylov def. Volkan Oezdemir via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-dillashaw-play-by-play-live-results”) [Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Katlyn Chookagian via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/10/ufc-280-results-katlyn-chookagian-vs-manon-fiorot-decision”) [Belal Muhammad def. Mateusz Gamrot via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/10/ufc-280-abu-dhabi-results-beneil-dariush-defends-mateusz-gamrot-grappling-decision-win”) [Manon Fiorot def. Malcolm Gordon via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:26](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/10/ufc-280-video-muhammad-mokaev-tested-pulls-off-late-armbar-against-malcolm-gordon”) [Karol Rosa def. Sean Brady via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:47](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/10/ufc-280-results-belal-muhammad-vs-sean-brady-tko-video”) [Caio Borralho def. Outside of a loss to Marlon Vera by TKO that stemmed from an injury in 2020, O’Malley remains unbeaten. In Round 2, O’Malley stunned Yan with a combination and pounced. Yan took O’Malley down, but eventually O’Malley found his way back up.

The man known as “The Suga Show” pulled out a gritty, gutty and bloody split decision over Yan, the former champion in a Fight of the Night type of battle.

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The main and co-main events see UFC gold on the line. The main event features Charles Oliveira taking on Islam Makhachev for the vacant UFC lightweight title he ...

Things heated up again in the third when O’Malley rocked Yan again. Yan spent some time on top, but O’Malley was able to scramble back to his feet. Yan went back to his wrestling, picking up a double leg to plant O’Malley on his back. O’Malley stood back up, but there wasn’t much time left on the clock. If O’Malley wins, though, we may see ‘Suga’ fighting a belt in the near future. The main and co-main events see UFC gold on the line.

A standout on Dana White's Contender Series, Sean O'Malley has emerged as a unique fighter and individual. His colorful personality has caused a dividing ...

[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VIpppddhgA9JpePz0vZbA/videos), he has over 483K subscribers. Dillashaw](https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/mma-net-worth/t-j-dillashaw-net-worth/) has a net worth of about $3 million. [net worth](https://www.essentiallysports.com/tag/aljamain-sterling/) is about $1-$2 million. O'Malley lost to Marlon Vera in 2020 at UFC 252 via KO. At UFC 260 in 2021, he knocked out Thomas Almeida. Making his promotional debut later that year, O'Malley beat Terrion Ware. He dyed his hair pink, orange, and yellow. Before he became an enigma, O'Malley's hair was relatively normal. I haven't really revealed it," O'Malley said. The fans love it, the media, it’s something to talk about. As he grew in popularity, O'Malley decided to change things up. “Sugar” fights former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan, ranked first in the bantamweight rankings.

Check out the best photos from Sean O'Malley's split decision win over Petr Yan at UFC 280 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

MMA: UFC 280-Yan vs O'Malley (Photos by Craig Kidwell, USA TODAY Sports)

Just before this fight, even Dana White was hyping up 'Suga' Sean O'Malley as a potential UFC star. Comparisons to Conor McGregor have been constant ever ...

He proved he is one of the most electrifying fighters in the entire UFC. Up next, Sean O'Malley definitely earned himself the chance to get a title shot against the winner of the fight between Sterling and Dillashaw. He did his best and managed to get back up all six times he fell on the ground. Sean O'Malley knew Petr Yan would try to take him down a number of occassions, he needed to remain vigilant and not get bested on the ground. [Dana White was hyping up 'Suga' Sean O'Malley](https://www.marca.com/en/ufc/2022/10/18/634ee2e546163f053c8b45c3.html) as a potential UFC star. Comparisons to [Conor McGregor](https://www.marca.com/en/ufc/2022/10/07/63400199268e3edb0b8b4585.html) have been constant ever since he started his rise through the Bantamweight division.

Sean O'Malley thinks it's only a matter of time he becomes a champion following his win over Petr Yan at UFC 280.

“I got to go deep. It’s not good for you to have headaches. It’s not good to get punched on the head. “Now it’s ‘You can’t just kick his legs and take him down.’ Petr kicked my legs and took me down, and still (I) won. “I turn 28 (Sunday), and I’m going to be in this sport for a long time. and he was able to prove himself in those areas.

Helena native Sean O'Malley defeated Petr Yan by split decision on Saturday in Abu Dhabi at UFC 280 to become the new No. 1 contender at men's bantamweight.

Yan's advantage was on the ground and in takedowns. However, O'Malley had the clear advantage with significant strikes with 84 to Yan's 58. Yan, from Russia, entered the fight as the former bantamweight champion and as the No.

What's ahead for the new lightweight champion? How about the top of the bantamweight division? Brett Okamoto plays matchmaker after UFC 280.

[Geoff Neal](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3111997/geoff-neal) vs. [Shavkat Rakhmonov](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4020699/shavkat-rakhmonov) on Jan. [Leon Edwards](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3152929/leon-edwards) vs. [Kamaru Usman](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3088812/kamaru-usman) III next. If all of the names ahead of Muhammad are booked, don't be surprised if the UFC asks Muhammad to stay active and accept a fight against one of these two. Makhachev entered the fight on a 10-fight winning streak and was set to finalize the plan of his coach and longtime teammate [Khabib Nurmagomedov](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2611557/khabib-nurmagomedov), the former UFC lightweight champion: To win the belt. It's a Fight-of-the-Night candidate on paper, and the obvious next move for both, depending how Dillashaw's health is coming off what appeared to be yet another shoulder injury. The difference between two massive wins and two stinging losses comes down to fine details. O'Malley is instantly the biggest fight for him, and the rankings justify it. Whether you agree with the scoring of O'Malley's split decision over Yan or not, there's no doubting he proved himself to be elite. Dariush is so, so, so deserving of a title fight, but even he seems to know it isn't in the cards -- yet. And Volkanovski gets a shot at a second title -- in his home country of Australia.

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday's card, including one to its new lightweight champion.

Petr Yan via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/10/ufc-280-results-sean-omalley-vs-petr-yan-controversial-decision) [Sean O'Malley](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/sean-omalley) (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) had to dig deep, but took a split decision from former bantamweight champion [Petr Yan](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/petr-yan) (16-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) for the biggest win of his career. Oliveira was stripped of the title in May when he missed weight for a title fight against Justin Gaethje. But late in the second, Muhammad landed a punch that wobbled Brady, and he took advantage. Oliveira is the UFC’s record holder for career submissions, so Makhachev’s finish was poetic justice. He was a slight underdog against the unbeaten Brady, and the two went back and forth for most of nearly two rounds. Muhammad kept the pressure on and landed punch after punch while Brady backed up.

Sean O'Malley is looking for bigger paydays after defeating a former bantamweight champion at UFC 280.

I want to go home and see my princess. I don’t want to fight anyone. For now, he just wants to rest and recover after a brutal back-and-forth fight. [UFC 280](https://www.mmafighting.com/fight-card/1330/ufc-280), O’Malley eked out a split decision over [Petr Yan](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/4437/petr-yan) to shoot up the rankings and boost his already considerable star power. I can almost guarantee I’m going to go sit down and renegotiate my contract after that. Because that’s going to be hard to do.