Sean O'Malley says he's the only one who could make Petr Yan change his usual game plan.
Bantamweight champion Yan (21-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) retained his title by rallying to beat Merab Dvalishvili (21-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 333 co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
With O'Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) losing twice to Dvalishvili in title fights, a Yan win breathed life into his title-shot hopes. O'Malley also edged out Yan in a Fight of the Night battle at UFC 280 in October 2022 which strengthens his case.
"Petr Yan is a savage," O'Malley said on the "Believe You Me" podcast. "I've known he's a savage. I've always looked at Petr as one of the most scary guys in the division. When I look at like the most difficult guy in the division, for
me, it's Merab. Merab is the most difficult. The most scary guy in the division is Petr Yan. He's a little terminator, and it's one of those fights that gets me – we've got to f*cking lock in.
"I've been locked in since the White House card. I've known Petr Yan is a potential matchup. I knew him vs. Merab was next. It was a matter of whenever that happens, it's going to happen. So I'm locked in. I'm not in training camp by any means. I'm 162 (pounds), eating good, but we're locked in. We're dialed in, and that's what it takes to beat a guy like Petr."
Yan is a notoriously slow starter, and it was evident in his title defense over Dvalishvili, in which he lost the first two rounds. O'Malley has had close Round 1s in the past, and wants to make sure he capitalizes against Yan.
"The first round with me and Petr was close," O'Malley said. "Round 2, he won. Round 3, I won. Round 1 was the kind of toss up in the air. Against Merab the first time I fought him, believe it or not, I won Round 3 and 5 on the judges' scorecards. Round 1 was the close round. Personally, humbly, unbiasedly, I believe I won that first round against Merab in the first fight. But second and fourth round, he dominated. People are like, 'What the f*ck? That fight wasn't even close.' It was. The third and fifth round I won on the scorecard.
"Round 1 was a close round. But for me, I've got to make sure I win that Round 1, too. Me vs. Song Yadong, Round 2, people say he won. Round 3, people say I won. Round 1 was that close round. So for me, I've got to make sure I win that first round and then the second round, and then I've got to make sure I win the third round, and the fourth round, and the fifth round. I'm going to try to win them all, but I'll take a KO, I'll take a decision, I'll take a robbery. Give me however I can get it, let me get it."
After a back-and-forth scrap in their first matchup, O'Malley sees the champion resorting to a heavy grapple approach in their rematch.
"This will be my third rematch," O'Malley said. "Second, I mean, the first 'Chito' (Vera) fight, I never really counted. It just didn't even play out. It was like three minutes and you know the whole story there. The Merab rematch didn't go so f*cking great, did it? But this rematch, it's like, I know what I need to do to beat Petr Yan. I need to outstrike him. He's going to wrestle. Petr Yan, his game plan's not to go in there and wrestle anybody unless it's 'Suga.' He never wrestled as much as he did until our first fight. ... Petr, he's a warrior. He's a stoic little warrior, and he's going to be hard to beat. I have the style to beat him. I have the skill set to beat him. I need to be ready to wrestle.
"That first fight I fought with Petr Yan, I had a great camp. I had a good everything. Everything was good, went in there healthy, had a good camp. First time fighting anybody in the top 10 was fighting the No. 1 guy, former world champion. I didn't really go in there thinking this little guy was going to try to wrestle me. This time around, I'm going to be like, alright, I know he's going to try to wrestle me. He can wrestle. He took Merab down. He can wrestle without a doubt. He's got good grappling, but he doesn't have that kind of same wrestling Merab does to give me the same trouble that Merab did. So it's going to be a sick kickboxing fight with some sweet wrestling scrambles."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: How Sean O'Malley believes Petr Yan's game plan changes just for him
