The Suga Show travels to Abu Dhabi to face off with the #1 ranked UFC bantamweight contender in a 3-round fight to set the table for the two title fights headlining UFC 280. What goes into a Yan vs O Malley Prediction?
Petr Yan (16-3) will take a big chance fighting the #11 bantamweight Sean O’Malley (15-1) at UFC 280. O’Malley could take his spot as a top contender with an upset victory over Yan on Saturday, but Yan can also steal all the hype behind the “Suga Show” and his following.
Fighters’ Last Record
Petr Yan is coming off back-to-back losses to the champion Aljamain Sterling. Sean O’Malley is coming off a disappointing no-contest decision against Pedro Munos in July.
Matchup Information
- October 22, 2022
- 2 PM ET
- Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Watch on ESPN+
Yan vs. O’Malley Betting Analysis
Petr Yan
To talk about making a Yan vs O’Malley prediction, you need to know the styles that both these guys bring into the octagon. Yan is basically the terminator.
With his world-class boxing skill and his fighting computer as a brain, he is a tricky puzzle to solve and almost impossible to stop for anybody in the division.
Yan was one illegal knee not happening away from likely still being the Bantamweight division champion. He was actually beating current champion Aljamain Sterling so badly in their first matchup that Sterling would not have even earned a title rematch right away had it not been for the illegal knee.
#11 Ranked Guy
Now Yan is in the position where he is one fight against the #11 ranked guy in the division away from another title fight.
Yan will march forward like a terminator and put as much pressure as possible on O’Malley early on while processing all of O’Malley’s reactions and striking setups.
Yan will work to cut the cage off from O’Malley to control the elite footwork that he brings to the table. With this being a 3-round fight, Yan will surely not start as slow as he does for 5-rounders.
He needs to keep the volume up early to ensure O’Malley doesn’t get ahead on the scorecards. He has the perfect dance partner in O’Malley to make this potentially the most intriguing fight on one the biggest UFC events of 2022.
Sean O’Malley
What an interesting fight for this superstar. After a lot of hate coming from his peers and fans talking about how the UFC feeds him tomato cans as opponents, O’Malley shuts everyone up and takes a fight with the #1 fighter in the division.
O’Malley is huge for this division and a stronger fighter than people give him credit for being. Many media members and social media “experts” still seem to think O’Malley is just a little skinny dork that smokes marijuana and plays video games.
The media doesn’t see much of the training and fitness regime that O’Malley follows religiously. He prioritizes his mental and physical health in and out of camp.
A Big Test for Yan
The quick, slick, sharp striking skills of O’Malley will be a big test for Yan. O’Malley will be able to move around the bigger cage a lot and try to surprise Yan with his creativity in combinations and movement.
Yan has surely never faced a striker like O’Malley, which is saying the same thing as O’Malley has never fought someone like Yan.
A significant fact to look at is O’Malley’s past success against 5’7″ boxers that want to put pressure on him and make him stay up against the fence. He has a lot of success in the octagon against shorter boxing-focused fighters.
Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley Betting Preview
UFC odds have Petr Yan as the betting favorite. Opening lines said he was up to -400 odds, but now he is down around -265 on fight week.
Odds Breakdown
O’Malley is now a +225 underdog, getting down from over +320 to start as more money is coming in on O’Malley to upset the number one ranked fighter in the division.
When someone has the hype and the fight-changing power that O’Malley does, with that kind of underdog odds, people are going to bet on him. Yan is still the favorite, with many fans and fellow fighters picking him to win this one.
A Hard Decision
With all odds aside, a Yan vs O’Malley prediction is very difficult to make. Once you give Yan -265 odds, the value on O’Malley’s side seems much better.
This is the first time in O’Malley’s career that he will be the underdog. He seems to enjoy that kind of energy, though; trying to prove people wrong gives him an extra push.
Yan vs. O’Malley Betting Predictions
With all the talent at UFC 280, it makes it tough to make UFC predictions this weekend. This fight is arguably the most interesting matchup on the card.
On one side, we have Yan as the destroyer that walks people down and lands a crazy volume of strikes until they can’t take it anymore.
O’Malley, on the other hand, is the flashier striker that seems to do just as well moving backward as when he is pushing forward.
Who to Bet On?
My Yan vs O’Malley prediction is O’Malley winning by KO. I usually never see Yan being finished, but the energy and confidence around the Suga Show this week is something special. It feels like a special event will happen in Abu Dhabi on October 22.
The first round will be a lot of O’Malley using his jab and front kicks to keep Yan off of him. I also can see Yan catching a kick at the end of the round and taking O’Malley to the ground, where O’Malley will finally be able to show off his grappling skills.
Second Round
Going into the second round is where O’Malley will start finding his shots, and he will drop Yan with a step-off left hand.
Then after that, it will be O’Malley on his front foot trying to put away Yan. my Yan vs O’Malley prediction is Suga Sean O’Malley via second-round TKO/KO.
UFC Pick: Sean O’Malley via second-round TKO/KO (+215)
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