At UFC 280, Sean O’Malley defeated Petr Yan by a split decision for the greatest victory of his MMA career. However, the decision caused controversy throughout the MMA world. Some even went as far as to call it a “robbery.”
O’Malley’s expression when the decision was made indicated that he wasn’t fully certain that he had done enough to have his hand raised. When the same remark was made on a recent episode of the IMPAULSIVE podcast, the American stated why he wasn’t sure of the outcome.
O’Malley said:
“I was concussed and my heart rate was 200 for like fifteen minutes. I mean you get concussed when you get hit in the head but right after the fight I was just like, ‘Holy f**k’. But after rewatching it, in my mind, I won round one and three.”
Sean is undoubtedly one of the greatest superstars to come out of Dana White’s Contender Series. With his win against Yan, O’Malley jumped 10 spots in the ranks to hold down the No. 1 contender position at bantamweight.
He has now won all five of his bouts. A title shot is quite likely to come his way shortly.
The story that the UFC was working hard to get Sean O’Malley the victory started to gain traction after his victory against Petr Yan at UFC 280.
Some people think the contentious choice was made because the corporation thought Sean may be a more profitable attraction than Yan. There’s no doubt that a Irish-American Gamer-Striker is a more marketable figure than Russian boxer who typically has a slow start.
On the podcast, O’Malley addressed the allegations and said:
“I don’t think it did. The judges in the UFC are completely two different [bodies]… I just think if you really go back and watch it and then you understand the judging criteria is damage in a fight. No.1 thing is damage in a fight.”
“So if there’s no damage then you go to No.2 which is whatever. There’s plenty of damage delt out in the first round [vs. Petr Yan]. I clearly hit him more and harder.”