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Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is on the hunt to reclaim his belt back. His next target is fellow former divisional titleholder, Sean O'Malley. Since his win over Deiveson Figueiredo last month, 'No Mercy' has been vocal on his intentions to get his win back against 'Suga', who beat him via a unanimous decision in a Fight of the Night-winning bout.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Yan coldly made a jab at O'Malley, who announced that he'll be spending some time away from the octagon.
Yan said:
"You know, is this going to happen? I would lean towards a rematch with Sean O'Malley but I don't know. What's going on with him. He's out for 9 to 12 months, so maybe he got pregnant."
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Yan doubled down on his hilarious call-out and reposted the video with the caption:
"When is your due date? @SugaSeanMMA"
Looking at the best possible match-up for Petr Yan aside from Sean O'Malley
As far as rankings go, No. 1-ranked Sean O'Malley is the best and most sensible next bout for Petr Yan. The former world champion just dropped his belt at Noche UFC 306 and would be looking to regain momentum before challenging for the belt - and Yan is the perfect stepping stone. On top of this, their 2022 classic bout will generate enough hype that it can either headline or co-headline its own PPV event.
However, since 'Sugar' is out of the game to nurse a torn labrum injury, Yan would have to look at the rest of the division for his next match-up. At the moment, the one bout that can propel Yan to title contention is against No. 2-ranked Umar Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov, a man largely seen as the next title challenger to Merab Dvalishvili, chose to not wait for the champion and accepted a fight against Song Yadong on Dec. 14. However, Song had to pull out due to injury, effectively canceling the bout altogether.
Perhaps a title eliminator bout between Nurmagomedov and Yan, who sit beside each other on the rankings, will be the best route to determine who faces Dvalishvili for the belt next. There's already some light trash-talking between the two, so this fight wouldn't be a tough sell.
