Sean O'Malley was one of the biggest winners of the past weekend.
Despite not competing at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, O'Malley was arguably the most interested party watching the bantamweight title co-main event. Two of his past rivals, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, battled for divisional supremacy, with the champion Yan winning a tight unanimous decision to emerge triumphant from the pair's trilogy.
When Yan got on the microphone for his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Daniel Cormier, the MMA world expected a mention of O'Malley, who's won back-to-back fights since his last championship defeat and holds a win over Yan. Instead, Cormier asked Yan about a rematch with Song Yadong, who was sitting cageside.
O'Malley said on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" that he wasn't bothered by the omission of his name. He just sees it as a whiff by the company, since he's confident in his position as the next man to challenge for the belt he once held.
"I think they just missed an opportunity," O'Malley told Uncrowned. "Yan could have called me out. He may as well have said my name, even if you don't want that fight, because it's the fight that's happening next.
"I wasn't too upset. I just thought it could have been a cool moment. I wasn't there, and that's OK. I wasn't going to fly to Abu Dhabi. I can't believe Song did. If it was in the United States, maybe I'd have been there."
On Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," O'Malley's longtime coach, Tim Welch, discussed Cormier's suggestion of Song, who’s coming off an impressive finish of Umar Nurmagomedov in August, but also lost to O'Malley this past January. Welch questioned whether Cormier has been biased against O'Malley since “Sugar” entered the UFC.
O'Malley revealed Tuesday that he actually spoke with Cormier Monday night after receiving a direct message from the UFC Hall of Famer. O’Malley said Cormier told him that he believes O'Malley should be next for Yan.
"I talked to 'DC' last night, and I have felt [that he doesn't like me] before," O'Malley said. "I felt like [when I was] coming up, there was a little bias, that he kind of wanted to see me lose a little bit. But at the end of the day, commentating's a hard job. You're sitting there eight hours, from the first fight of the night to the end of the last fight. Then you still have to sit there and break down what happened. So, it's a hard job.
"You're not always going to say the right thing, and you're going to be one way or the other sometimes, even if it's on accident. But there was a time after the Terrion Ware or Thomas Almeida fights, I felt like he was kind of like, 'Oh, he's doing it again!' There were fights where he was like, 'Why don't people just kick Sean's legs?' There were times where I felt he was kind of wanting to see me lose. But I don't know if in my heart I truly believe Daniel wants to see me lose. At one point I felt like that; now I don't. It was like that for a while."
O'Malley was relatively understanding and admitted he ultimately doesn’t care what Cormier thought on the matter. He has his eyes on the prize he once held: The UFC bantamweight title.
Watching the Yan fight at UFC 333, O'Malley was just as impressed as the rest of the world, if not more impressed. By his estimation, the trilogy tilt with Dvalishvili determined the best fighter their division has ever seen. That's all the motivation he needs ahead of what would be a big title-fight rematch with Yan.
"It was two guys that pretty much everyone was kind of agreeing that they're fighting for the greatest bantamweight of all time status," O'Malley said. "It's always tricky with recency bias, but I really do think these two guys are fighting for that title, and Petr Yan won that. So we're super lucky to be able to watch two guys fighting for that title. Not just the bantamweight title, but the greatest-of-all-time title.
"They really are, when it comes to just pure skill for skill. Petr Yan is up there. He's that guy. When it comes to fighting and mixing it up, and finding ways to win, Merab is up there as well. So they're both up there, just with different skill sets.
"It was an honor to watch that fight, and I was happy Petr won," O'Malley continued.
It gives me that — obviously, I'm fighting for the title next — but it's one of those fights like, 'Holy s***, I'm going to go fight this killer, a dude that's an absolute murderer,’ and it gets me excited."
There was an imaginary road map in O'Malley’s mind depending on who won UFC 333’s trilogy fight. If it was Dvalishvili, the man he's lost to twice, O'Malley fully expected to sit back and watch Song challenge Yan next. From there, he expected to take on rising contender Payton Talbott.
Now, though, he's absolutely certain he'll face champion Yan next.
"I'm not worried about it. UFC makes the biggest fights, and not only is this the biggest fight, it makes sense," O'Malley said. "If it wasn't me, then you could do Song, but even then, it's like, I don't know."
After his decision win over Song in January, O’Malley scored a big knockout over Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
O'Malley, 32, admits he was never asked about jumping Dvalishvili in the line to face Yan at UFC 333, yet that didn't stop him from requesting the UFC brass stage a U.S. vs. Russia collision at the White House.
In hindsight, timing was also a big factor, as Yan underwent back surgery early in 2026. Nonetheless, O'Malley doesn't believe Yan is afraid of him, even after scoring a hard-fought split decision over the Russian in their October 2023 encounter.
"I don't think Petr is scared of 'Suga' Sean O'Malley by any means, but I do think he looks at that fight and goes, 'OK,'" O'Malley said. "He remembers. The last fight was a close fight. It was a tough fight. He's gotten a lot better, I've gotten a lot better. I think I'm a tough stylistic matchup for Petr Yan. So, I do think he knows and recognizes that. I don't think he's scared or will duck me. But I do think in his little Russian head he's like, 'Ah f***, dude.'"