Sean O'Malley Says Petr Yan Landed Hardest Shot of His Career in 2022 Fight
O'Malley, 31, faces Aiemann Zahabi on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250. He described the 2022 strike from Yan that turned his head completely around.
yardbarker.comSean O'Malley said Petr Yan landed the hardest shot he has ever absorbed during their October 2022 fight at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. The former bantamweight champion described the sequence on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast. O'Malley said he hurt Yan with an uppercut in the second round, rocked him with a right hand and dropped him.
Forty-five seconds later, Yan connected with a left hand that turned O'Malley's head all the way around. "That was probably the hardest I've been hit," O'Malley said of the punch. O'Malley won the fight by narrow split decision.
The victory earned him an immediate title shot against Aljamain Sterling, whom he stopped to claim the UFC bantamweight belt. O'Malley, 31, lost the title to Merab Dvalishvili and failed to regain it in a rematch. He returned to the win column in January with a unanimous decision over Song Yadong.
O'Malley meets Aiemann Zahabi on the UFC White House card at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14. Petr Yan is the current UFC bantamweight champion.
