Former UFC fighter thinks promotion booked Sean O'Malley vs. Petr Yan in bid to make 'Sugar' the new "face of the UFC"

Brendan Schaub thinks the UFC booked a fight between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan with the aim of making O'Malley the new "face of the UFC".

In a new episode of The Schaub Show 295, 'Big Brown' agreed with the UFC's plan to push Sean O'Malley into becoming a potential face of the organization by saying:

"I kind of agree with the UFC, you know it's kind of get 'Sugar' off the pot. He's such a massive star and he's also a guy who makes a lot of money outside the octagon. He's also a guy they have brought up slow. But at some point, let's see what we got. I kind of agree with them on this one. Can we put the company's brand and the name behind him and make him the face of the UFC as other guys are retiring?"

He also added about O'Malley going from facing a a top 10-ranked fighter to the No.1 contender by saying:

"I don't think they're rushing him [O' Malley]. But, you know to go from a fight of poking the guy in the eye in Pedro Munhoz to then going to the No.1 contender, it's also a little extreme...How long should we keep bringing this guy up?"

Sean O'Malley goes face-to-face with former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 on October 22 in Abu Dhabi. With Yan coming off an unsuccessful title challenge against Aljamain Sterling, the No.1-ranked bantamweight will aim to return to winning ways against O'Malley, who has only one solitary loss to his name in the UFC against Marlon Vera.

Watch Brendan Schaub discuss O'Malley's fight against Petr Yan below:

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Sean O'Malley opens as massive underdog against Petr Yan for UFC 280 fight

Sean O'Malley, who recently broke into the top 15 rankings at bantamweight, will face his sternest test yet when he faces Petr Yan in October. With Yan having been at the top of the division in the recent past, he will be highly motivated to reclaim the championship after losing to Sterling in the rematch at UFC 273.

'Sugar' hasn't fought anyone in his career with this level of skill. In most of his fights in the UFC, he has opened as a heavy favorite, however, for his UFC 280 bout, the Montana native is opening up as a massive underdog. The American will have to be at the top of his game when he faces Yan, who has beaten elite-level fighters like Jose Aldo to capture the vacant bantamweight title in 2020.