Sean O’Malley is looking for a title fight after beating Song Yadong in a competitive bantamweight battle in the UFC 324 co-main event.
Following back-to-back losses to Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley returned
to form, especially with a great third round where he busted up and bloodied Song with a series of nasty, effective striking combinations. When it was over, all three judges had it 29-28 for O’Malley, who now hopes a showdown with new bantamweight champion Petr Yan is next.
“Championship mindset, baby!” O’Malley shouted after the win. “Petr Yan has something that I want. All respect to Merab, if he gets the shot, he’s well deserved. But Petr Yan, you want that rematch, I want that belt, let’s make it happen. This feels so f*cking good. I hate losing.”
Playing sniper from the outside, O’Malley used his reach to keep Song on the end of his punches, tossing out a jab and then throwing his kicks behind it. Song was undeterred as he showed no fear stepping into the fray to throw some hammers at O’Malley and try to put the former bantamweight champion down and out.
A leaping left hand from Song clipped O’Malley but he quickly fired back with another jab and then digging to the body with a nasty front kick. O’Malley was also constantly switching stances to keep Song guessing and never allowing his opponent to settle into a rhythm.
That’s when Song snatched a takedown to bring O’Malley to the canvas and he maintained top control until the horn sounded to end round one.
On the restart, Song opened with a stiff leg kick that definitely tripped up O’Malley and forced him switch from southpaw to orthodox. Song stayed in pursuit, which included a powerful right hand that clubbed O’Malley before he turned to the takedown again.
O’Malley resisted with Song hanging onto the body lock and then digging to the leg with repeated knee strikes. Song eventually scrambled until he got the takedown with O’Malley briefly stuck on the bottom before he worked his way free to return to the feet.
As the final round got underway, O’Malley’s coaches were urging him to give his best five minutes possible after a back-and-forth effort made the fight tough to score. O’Malley listened and then delivered with several nasty left hands that kept finding a home on Song’s chin, which were arguably his best punches of the fight.
Song kept attempting to unleash a flurry but O’Malley was doing a good job of avoiding his best strikes. In return, O’Malley was still snapping off that led jaw that kept popping Song’s head back in convincing fashion.
O’Malley followed with another staggering straight right as blood splattered across Song’s face from a busted nose. A big knee up the middle followed by another nasty left had O’Malley completely in control as the fight came to a close.
Considering he already has a win over Yan in an instant classic, O’Malley has an argument that he could get the next title shot, although it’s tough to deny Dvalishvili his opportunity because he’s currently 1-1 with the reigning UFC bantamweight champion as well. Either way, O’Malley is back and looking to climb back to gold again.
