Petr Yan has taken aim at the UFC’s matchmaking, claiming the promotion protected Sean O’Malley by pairing him with Aiemann Zahabi instead of booking a rematch between the two bantamweights.
Yan said he had already agreed to fight O’Malley before the matchup with Zahabi was finalized, but believes the UFC chose a different route for the high-profile White House card. “The UFC were afraid for you!” Yan said. “They needed to be sure that you would win in the White House! They didn’t want you to get beaten in the White House! I gave my consent! That’s why they gave you someone you can at least handle!”
O’Malley, who stopped Zahabi by second-round TKO, has offered a different perspective on how the fight came together. “At first, I asked for Petr,” O’Malley said. “They said no. They didn’t say any reason, they didn’t say anything. They just said he’s not available. Then they offered me Aiemann and I said yeah. To be honest, I was trying to fight Aiemann my last fight and they said no. They gave me Song [Yadong]. It’s kind of funny, people are acting like it’s my decision. I wanted to fight Aiemann last time and they said no, they gave me Song. I wanted to fight Petr, they said no. They gave me Aiemann. UFC does what UFC does and there’s a reason they’re the UFC.”
O’Malley previously edged Yan by a narrow margin at UFC 280 in late 2022, and Yan is expected to rematch former champion Merab Dvalishvili later this year.
