UFC President Dana White doesn’t seem very convinced with Sean O’Malley‘s win over former bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
During the post-fight press conference at UFC 280, the 53-year-old spoke his mind on the matter.
White stated that the judges scored the contest completely differently from how he thought the fight played out:
“It was one of those razor-thin close fights. I could see people saying Yan won the fight and I could see people saying O’Malley won the fight. What’s weird is, it wasn’t the way I thought it was with the judges scorecard. I thought depending on who you gave the first round to, determined who won the fight. But that was not the case, apparently.”
Sean O’Malley registered a closely contested split decision win against Petr Yan at UFC 280. Two of the three judges scored the first and third rounds a 10-9 for ‘Sugar’.
With a win at UFC 280, ‘Sugar’ is currently on a four-fight undefeated streak. The American holds a pro record of 16 wins against 1 loss and 1 no-contest. With the loss in Abu Dhabi, ‘No Mercy’ is currently on a two-two fight skid. The Russian’s pro record stands at 16-4.
Watch Dana White speak about O’Malley vs. Yan below:
When Dana White compared Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan to Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor
In a recent interview with TMZSports, Dana White stated that Sean O’Malley could be a global superstar like Conor McGregor if he wins a few key fights in his career like the Irishman did during his meteoric rise in the promotion.
White compared ‘Sugar’s UFC 280 fight with Petr Yan to be as significant as McGregor’s fight with Jose Aldo:
“A 100% [O’Malley can be superstar] and it’s all about winning those key fights. He needs to win this fight this weekend against Petr Yan… Conor on his way up won all his key fights he needed to win and this is like it’s not for a title but Petr Yan is the number 1 guy in the world… And obviously if you are to compare the whole Conor thing, this would be his [O’Malley’s] Jose Aldo fight.”
Seeing as the 27-year-old triumphed over former champion Yan, albeit not in the same spectacular fashion as ‘The Notorious’ finished Aldo, he might not be too far from achieving UFC superstardom.
Watch Dana White speak about O’Malley becoming a global superstar below: