O'Malley Predicts Yan Over Dvalishvili At UFC 333

Sean O'Malley backed Petr Yan to retain his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili when the pair meet for a third time at UFC 333.

Yan and Dvalishvili have split two fights — Dvalishvili won the first decisively, Yan reversed the result in the rematch to reclaim the belt — and O'Malley has shared the octagon with both men. He lost twice to Dvalishvili but edged Yan in a close decision years ago. Speaking to UFC on Paramount, as first reported by BJ Penn, O'Malley said he expects Yan to win again based on superior skill and conditioning.

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O'Malley Sees Yan's Finish Breaking Dvalishvili

"If we didn't see what happened last fight I'd be like, 'Merab's gas tank is crazy,' Petr's gas tank is crazy, he broke Merab in the later rounds, so it's hard not to go with Petr right now," O'Malley said. He added that Dvalishvili's ongoing nose issue could tip the scales further in Yan's favor.

O'Malley acknowledged that a Dvalishvili win would set up a trilogy between the two, but said fans have little interest in that matchup right now. He called Yan "most people's favorite fighter's favorite fighter" and said a birthday present for him would be Yan defending the strap.

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UFC 333's co-main event airs later this year with the exact date still to be confirmed.

Reported via:

• BJPenn — Sean O’Malley predicts upcoming Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili trilogy fight