Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan put on a show at UFC 280 ahead of the main and co-main event on the fight card Saturday in Abu Dhabi. What started with trash talk via Twitter led to a shove from Yan at the prematch news conference. Would the theatrics carry into the Octagon?
In a word, yes.
O'Malley, who stands nearly 6 feet tall with a 72-inch reach, was able to consistently land significant strikes throughout the fight. Meanwhile, Yan found continued success on the ground by going 6-for-13 on takedowns. O'Malley's performance in the third round proved to be the difference on the judges' scorecards as a big knee strike busted Yan up, and "Suga" followed up with more strikes. Yan landed a few more takedowns in the third but the scorecards leaned in O'Malley's favor. By the end of the fight, O'Malley outlanded Yan 84-58 in significant strikes.
But many UFC superstars did not agree with the result and took to Twitter to voice their opinions.
Did Yan win?
Tweets from fighters poured in with their thoughts on the controversial result. Stars such as Jorge Masvidal and Henry Cejudo believed that Yan, ESPN's No. 2-ranked bantamweight coming into the Saturday fight, deserved the decision over O'Malley.
Worst robbery I'm UFC history, I hope our sport doesn't become boxing @danawhite
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) October 22, 2022
Man... Suga showed toughness and had a great fight but he didn't win that fight.
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) October 22, 2022
Wowwwwwww. I had Yan winning 30-27 but none the less, O'Malley showed he's an elite bantamweight. I'm sold that he'll get his hands on a belt someday. #UFC280
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) October 22, 2022
Wtf just happened!!! Yan won that fight. That's insane
— Cody Stamann (@CodyStamann) October 22, 2022
Somebody paid somebody off #UFC280
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) October 22, 2022
Suga Sean's got next
Meanwhile, other stars had praise for O'Malley and the awesome fight the two stars put on. O'Malley came into contest the unranked in ESPN's bantamweight rankings.
What a fight. @SugaSeanMMA definitely one of the best in the division #UFC280
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) October 22, 2022
Massive spot for O'Malley! Lotta questions answered tonight ladies and gentlemen
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 22, 2022
Great War 🤯
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) October 22, 2022
O'Malley definitely belongs to the elite of that division and he has a chin for it.
Yan is a beast man
Told y'all O'Malley was getting that dub #UFC280
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) October 22, 2022
Sheesh @SugaSeanMMA is a star 💯
— Sergio Pettis (@sergiopettis) October 22, 2022
'Craziest sport in the world'
After the fight, O'Malley came out and said what we were all thinking.
Couldn't agree more @SugaSeanMMA, craziest sport in the world 🤯 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/iWJ8rzZQUP
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022
