Petr Yan has a trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili to survive this weekend, and he’s already willing to talk about the man who beat him in 2022. The UFC bantamweight champion told MMA Fighting through an interpreter that a rematch with Sean O’Malley makes sense for his next title defense in 2027.
“Why not?” Yan said. “For real, we have history, so why wouldn’t that be the fight?”
That history is a split decision O’Malley won in 2022, a fight that lands almost exactly four years before Yan’s third meeting with Dvalishvili in the UFC 333 co-main event in Abu Dhabi. O’Malley earned a bonus that night, one of two bonus-winning victories (the other over Aljamain Sterling) during a run that had him at 18-1 before he dropped back-to-back title fights to Dvalishvili.
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Since then, Suga has gone 2-0. He took a decision over Song Yadong, then flattened Aiemann Zahabi with a second-round knockout on the UFC White House card in June. Yan sees him as a legitimate name near the front of the line. He just won’t pretend he’s been wowed.
Yan said he’s “not necessarily impressed” by what O’Malley has done lately, though he gave him credit for the results. “He’s doing a great job. He’s moving forward, and he’s definitely proved that he is the next one, or one of the next ones who should be good to fight for the title,” Yan said, before adding that O’Malley is simply on the right trajectory.
He also made clear the decision doesn’t belong to him. Yan pointed out that he’s already fought a lot of the guys in the top five, and said the UFC picks the challenger. “I don’t choose my opponent. I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me.”
First, Merab
None of this matters if Saturday goes wrong. Yan took the belt back in December 2025 at UFC 323, upsetting Dvalishvili by decision to push his winning streak to four and avenge a 2023 loss to the Georgian. That gives them 10 full rounds together in roughly three and a half years. Dvalishvili recently told MMA Fighting he wasn’t himself in the rematch and has fixed whatever went wrong.
Yan expects 25 minutes of wrestling pressure and says his camp is ready for the takedowns and the tempo. He wants to end it early this time. “I see it and I can envision it,” Yan said of finishing Dvalishvili, promising to put all his effort into making it happen.
He also walked back recent chatter about a move to featherweight, explaining he’d only been asked whether he’d rather go up or down a weight class. “It’s not something that I’m looking at at all,” Yan said, adding he still has work to do at 135 pounds.
My take: O’Malley is the right call if Yan wins. A split decision is the most arguable result in the sport, and that 2022 fight has been argued about ever since. Throw in a Zahabi knockout and two straight wins, and the matchmaking writes itself. But Yan talking about 2027 with Dvalishvili ready to shoot double legs at him for 25 minutes is a dangerous bit of daydreaming, and he knows it. Saturday in Abu Dhabi decides whether Suga gets his invitation.
