Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley looks to be a done deal, but O'Malley isn't sure that would be the case if Yan had his say.
MMA
Wang Cong admits she has 'regrets' following UFC 332 loss in title fight against Natalia Silva
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Zuffa LLCWang Cong couldn't leave Salt Lake City as a UFC champion this past Saturday, and she thinks she could've done things differently.
Cong challenged Silva with the vacant women's flyweight title up for grabs. Shevchenko relinquished the gold as she hasn't recovered from an injury as quickly as she had hoped. Cong and Silva went the distance inside the Delta Center. While Cong had a late surge, it wasn't enough in the eyes of all three judges, who scored the fight for Silva.
Now that Cong has had some time to reflect on falling short of UFC gold, she took to her Instagram account to admit that she's switch things up with a do-over.
“Thank you for supporting my friends,†Cong said. “The game is lost, what a pity. I have some regrets then because of the first game. The eye was poked in the second half. The line of sight is blocked, and then I couldn't see it when I was poked in the right eye in the first game. Wait until later to slow down, it's too slow to enter. Where to fall, get up, go back and summarize yourself. Come on, try again.â€
UFC CEO Dana White told reporters after the event that Cong would be upset with herself for not being more aggressive sooner. It appears White may have been correct.
Cong entered UFC 332 on a four-fight winning streak. Her last defeat was to Gabriella Fernandes back in Nov. 2024. Cong defeated Tracy Cortez, Eduarda Moura, Ariane da Silva, and Bruna Brasil to earn the title opportunity.
Whether or not former champion Shevchenko will be healed in time to fight Silva next remains to be seen. “Bullet†warned Silva not to celebrate for too long as she will be looking to get the 125-pound gold back when she's cleared.
Do you think Wang Cong will ever get another UFC title fight again, or was this her one and only chance? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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MMA
Morning Report | Sean O’Malley questions if Petr Yan wants rematch after UFC 333: ‘I don’t think he’d pick me’
Saturday's UFC 333 co-main event featured the conclusion Yan's trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili, with Yan winning a second consecutive five-round decision over his longtime rival to take their series 2-1. Up next, O'Malley seems like the most likely contender given that he owns a past win over Yan (a controversial split decision from 2022) and his recent victories against top 10-ranked opponents Aiemann Zahabi and Song Yadong.
Reacting to Dvalishvili vs. Yan live on his YouTube channel, O'Malley expressed skepticism that Yan is as excited about their rematch as he is.
“I don't think Petr Yan lays in bed and shakes and quivers thinking of fighting me,†O'Malley said. “Do I think he loves the idea of fighting me? I don't know, probably not. I'm a completely different matchup than anybody he fights. He fights guys like Merab, 5'5â€. Fights Song, 5'6â€. He fights these little guys. Maybe he likes fighting those little guys. I'm big, long, southpaw, orthodox, move a lot. He's flatfooted.
“He knows the problems that I present to him, so I wouldn't say Petr Yan's ducking me or scared. I don't think he'd pick me if he could choose.â€
Perhaps O'Malley is simply engaging in gamesmanship, attempting to bait Yan into saying his name because that didn't happen during Yan's post-fight victory speech. When cageside commentator Daniel Cormier interviewed Yan, Cormier mentioned a potential rematch between the champion and Song, who was in attendance at Saturday's event, and O'Malley was surprised his name wasn't mentioned.
“I'm surprised Petr didn't call me out,†O'Malley said. “I don't know why. It's the biggest fight to make and if it's in his eyes, shit, I called ‘Chito' [Vera] out after I won the belt. Give me the easiest f*cking fight ever—not ever, but I'll take whoever, but I can pick, I'm champ, I want to fight Chito.â€
“DC, I don't know what he's thinking, he's asking about Song Yadong. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it,†O'Malley said. “I'm like, ‘OK, maybe he is next.' Wait, I beat him like six, seven months ago, whatever the f*ck. I don't know. I'm fighting Petr Yan next. I don't care, even if they announce Petr vs. Song, I'm still fighting Petr next. That's just how much I'm fighting Petr next. I don't know what they're talking about, it's got to be me vs. Petr. Song fought Petr on one of my undercards, when I defended the championship title and Petr beat Song. I beat Petr. I beat Song. It's got to be me vs. Petr in the United States, early Q2, late Q1, book it.â€
O'Malley's fight with Yan remains controversial to this day, with both men landing hard strikes in their UFC 280 contest, but Yan arguably tilting the action in his favor with several successful takedowns. In the end, two judges saw the fight in O'Malley's favor.
“Sugar†watched the third Yan-Dvalishvili fight closely, both to admire his peers and to stay focused on the distinct possibility that he will fight Yan again.
“The fact that Petr was able to keep that pace, lose the first two rounds, have a close third round, and then have the momentum swing into the fourth and fifth round, it was legendary,†O'Malley said. “Petr Yan is an absolute legend, so is Merab. But for Petr to go out there and beat him twice like that is legendary.
“He's the greatest bantamweight of all-time and I get this anxiety, this nerve feeling of like, damn, that's who I'm fighting next. I'm sitting on the couch watching this savage go f*cking 25 minutes with one of the other greatest bantamweights of all-time, Merab. It gives me this good anxiety, good nervousness, because if you don't have that going into fights, it's harder to get up and train for it. So when you have this feeling, I'm locked in. I've been locked in since the last fight knowing that I might be fighting Petr Yan again.â€
For the sake of the UFC, O'Malley hopes the Yan rematch happens, because he's stated many times that he thinks it could be a new peak for the 135-pound division.
“It's going to be the greatest, the biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history,†O'Malley said. “I don't know when, I don't know where, but I know it's going to happen.â€
Champ. Islam Makhachev reveals why he turned down January fight with Carlos Prates.
Blast. Carlos Prates blasts ‘coward' Islam Makhachev for UFC 336 withdrawal, vows to retire him.
Interim. Dana White explains why the interim welterweight title is being introduced with Islam Makhachev still champion.
Superfight. Alexander Volkanovski wants superfight with Justin Gaethje: ‘That's something I would retire for.'
Beef. Dominick Reyes accuses Daniel Cormier of ‘clear bias' on UFC 333 commentary; Cormier responds.
Release. Dana White reveals why Shakur Stevenson was released so quickly from Zuffa Boxing.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Joshua Van (18-2) vs. Manel Kape (23-7); UFC 336, Jan. 30
Carlos Prates (24-7) vs. Michael Morales (19-0); UFC 336, Jan. 30
Would Volk be in the GOAT shortlist had he not taken the 2nd Islam fight?
If Volk didn’t take the 2nd Islam fight on short notice, could he have become the GOAT even with the 1st loss?
This is on the hypothetical he might have beaten Ilia without the previous KO and then Lopes and Mosvar.
I think he’s in the top 5 and is absolutely above Aldo now at 45 (which hurts me to say, I named my dog Aldo)
Rec 5ReplyRead 75 replies
How good was UFC 333?
UFC 333 looked like a banger on paper and it more than lived up to the hype, but where do you rank it among the best events of the year?
Alexander Volkanovski triumphed over Movsar Evloev, Petr Yan closed out his trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili, and Lone’er Kavanagh, Aaron Pico, Dominick, Reyes, and Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev were just a few of the undercard fighters who shined.
On a scale of 1-10, how high would you rate UFC 333?
Closes in 2 days • 63 total votes
Rec 2ReplyRead 11 replies
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