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Sean O'Malley's coach believes a three-round format favors his student, who will be fighting Petr Yan at UFC 280.
Yan is known to be a slow starter and a strong finisher. That's because the former UFC bantamweight champ has a tendency to take his time figuring his opponent out early on, before kicking into high gear in the later rounds.
But at UFC 280, Yan will compete in a three-round fight for the first time since 2019. That means the Russian won't have the luxury of taking his sweet time to figure out O'Malley's movement.
With that in mind, O'Malley's coach Tim Welch believes the shorter format could prove to be an issue for Yan. Appearing in an interview on Submission Radio, Welch said:
"Anyone who spars Sean, any high-level guy – a guy who comes in from the UFC to spar Sean or any professional boxer – they're like, 'Holy f***!' Being able to figure him [Sean O'Malley] out in 15 is damn near impossible, I think. So having to go out there and he [Petr Yan] starts slow thinking, 'I'm gonna figure this guy out. I'm gonna get a read on his movements.'"
Check out Tim Welch's interview below:
Welch also claimed that O'Malley is such an elusive striker that his opponents often don't see his strikes coming. He added that crafting a game plan against O'Malley is a tall task with how fast and unpredictable his movements are.
Sean O'Malley expects to come closer to 'Conor level' superstardom with win over Petr Yan
Sean O'Malley is confident that he's destined to reach new heights of popularity by defeating Petr Yan.
'Sugar' even went as far as claiming he's going to be the next face of the UFC, a position that Conor McGregor has filled for several years now. During an interview with ESPN's DC & RC show, the bantamweight rising star proclaimed:
"Usually I’d say people are hoping I don’t win, but to be honest, I would say the majority of people that think I won’t win actually want me to win. People want a superstar. There’s really no one in the UFC right now that is that Conor level. Me, I go out there and beat Petr in spectacular fashion, I’m climbing."
Watch Sean O'Malley's interview below:
