Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight strikers Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong squared off this weekend (Sat., Jan. 24, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC 324.
It wasn’t
supposed to serve as the co-main event (here’s why), but it more than live up to its last-second billing.
Petr Yan may have had one of the best performances of 2025 in his title-winning revenge over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323; however, “Suga” seemingly won just as big that evening back in Dec. 2025. That’s because there was no hope of an “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” trilogy match, but O’Malley already holds a (controversial) win over “No Mercy.” And if he rebounded in “Sin City,” Dana White and Co. would surely love to send O’Malley to Washington, D.C., for another title shot.
On the flip side, Yadong was chasing his first-ever UFC title shot. He’s been highly ranked and in the mix for awhile now, but he’s come up just short in a couple major opportunities. He was looking to buck that trend here and score the biggest scalp of his career, which would put him in great position to fight for gold.
But, O’Malley was just too much, too often, pot-shotting his way to a unanimous decision win after 15 minutes of back-and-forth, tough competition.
Yadong wasted no time attacking the legs of O’Malley, who has historically struggled with durability during fights. He remained on the outside, feinting and twitching, looking to stick Yadong with sniper-like shots from the outside and not be around for the counter strikes. O’Malley continued to bounce in-and-out, using his long legs to land crisp shots to Yadong’s mid-section. Yadong lunged in with a big left hand, and it looked like he wanted to use it to set up a takedown, but O’Malley was not around for him to finish it. Yadong continued to attack O’Malley’s legs, cutting off the cage well and limiting his ability to pot-shot. Yadong ended the round with a nice takedown, fighting off a tight O’Malley guillotine choke along the way.
Yadong came out with a hard leg kick to start the second stanza, forcing O’Malley to immediately switch stances. Big right hand from Yadong bounced off O’Malley’s forehead, with “Suga” looking a bit uncomfortable in the early going. O’Malley attacked with a front kick, with Yadong landing back-to-back solid left hooks. Two minutes into the round, Yadong tackled O’Malley along the cage. He was able to get to his feet pretty quick, but Yadong remained draped on his back. O’Malley tried to drill him with backward elbows, before he was ultimately dropped on his back. He threatened with another guillotine, but Yadong was never in any trouble. O’Malley was able to return to his feet and land a slick uppercut with one minute remaining in the round. O’Malley took a deep breath down the stretch, trying to land shots from the outside, but finding nothing but air until the final buzzer.
O’Malley definitely needed the third and final frame on the judges scorecards — it was likely even after 10 minutes. Yadong came out throwing bombs, but O’Malley was able to avoid aerial assault. Yadong continued to land hard leg kicks, while O’Malley scored with two big shots upstairs. Nice straight left hand from O’Malley knocked Yadong off balance, and he couldn’t really find his range at all for the first three minutes. Frustrated, he telegraphed a takedown that O’Malley easily sidestepped. O’Malley landed a nice right hand on Yadong, who was leaking from his nose at this stage of the fight. Yadong continued to chase, but O’Malley was just too fast, peppering him with short jabs and running circles around him late. O’Malley landed a sweet knee down the stretch. It seemed O’Malley did more when it mattered most, but it wasn’t easy.
Nevertheless, O’Malley just banked his first win in nearly two years. And with his nemesis, Dvalishvilli, no longer ruling the roost, “Suga” might be closer to a title shot than anyone expected just a few months ago.
