Sean O’Malley spent the week after UFC 333 doing something fighters almost never do. He scouted fights for the men standing between him and a title shot, and he was generous about it. MMA Junkie and Yahoo both ran his line that Song Yadong could definitely beat Merab Dvalishvili, and Sportskeeda carried the saltier version, with O’Malley calling Song “explosive as f**k.” That’s a kind scouting report. It’s also the sharpest bit of politics anybody at 135 has run this year, because every word of it points Song toward Merab and away from Petr Yan, which leaves the belt shot sitting right where O’Malley wants it.
The backdrop matters. Yan beat Merab in the UFC 333 main event in Abu Dhabi, a performance MMA Fighting called masterful, and Merab walked out with his head up. Song was cageside, fresh off his knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov, and the broadcast zeroed in on him. O’Malley wasn’t in the building, and for a night he looked like the forgotten man. Daniel Cormier didn’t mention him in the post-fight interview, then messaged him on Instagram afterward. O’Malley told Ariel Helwani that Cormier said he should fight for the title, that the two talked and it was cordial, and that commentating is a hard job where you won’t always say the right thing. He also admitted he used to feel Cormier had a little bias against him. Big of him to let it go. Bigger of him to make sure everyone heard about it.
The resume argument holds up
Here’s O’Malley’s case, and I think it’s correct. He beat Song earlier this year. He knocked out Aimann Zahabi on the UFC White House card. He beat Yan back in 2022. And Yan already has a win over Song from the night O’Malley was defending his belt in Miami. On Cormier’s podcast, O’Malley boiled it down: Yan beat Song while O’Malley was defending his title in Miami, O’Malley has also beaten Song, and as far as he’s concerned there’s no debate or argument to be had.
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He’s right. The Umar knockout is the best win of Song’s career and nobody should shrink it. But giving Song the next shot means Yan defends against a man he’s already beaten while skipping a man who has beaten both of them. That’s circular matchmaking, and it rewards being in the arena more than the actual results. Being in the crowd gets you camera time. It shouldn’t get you a title fight over someone with a win over the champion.
Why Song vs. Merab is the right fight anyway
O’Malley’s praise for Song isn’t empty, either. Merab just lost his title and needs a way back, and Song is the hottest name in the division. O’Malley watched Yan and Merab and said he was honored to see it, describing Merab as elite at “fighting and mixing it up and finding ways to win.” Merab against a rising knockout threat is a real test of whether he can make adjustments after a loss, which is the trait I care most about in any fighter. Song beating Merab would give him a fresh resume line that doesn’t route back through O’Malley or Yan. Merab beating Song would put the former champ right back in line. Either way the division gets a clean contender.
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One outlet, MMA Sucka, ran a headline framing all this as O’Malley demanding a Merab rematch. Everything O’Malley actually said on the record this week is aimed at Yan.
The stylistic pitch
O’Malley also made the matchup case to Helwani, and it’s the part I find most interesting as a technical question. He said Yan remembers their first fight as “a close fight, it was a tough fight,” and that both men have gotten a lot better since. Then he went to size: “I’m not 5’5”. I’m not like Song or Merab... I’m 6’3”. I’m a big guy.” I’ll let the fight week tape measure handle the exact figures. The point stands that Yan’s last two opponents in O’Malley’s framing are compact, pressure-heavy bodies, and O’Malley presents a long, rangy problem Yan hasn’t solved in a title setting.
He also pitched the commercial side, telling Cormier that Yan vs. O’Malley would be the biggest bantamweight fight ever and a main event, bigger than his fight with Chito Vera, which he called the top bantamweight draw so far. That’s promoter talk, but it’s the kind the UFC tends to listen to.
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The UFC hasn’t made a call on Yan’s next defense. My booking: Yan vs. O’Malley 2 in a main event, Merab vs. Song underneath it as the fight that decides who’s next. O’Malley already gave the second one its trailer for free. On the first one, he’s done arguing: “Me versus Petr is happening next. It just is. I refuse to believe otherwise.”
