Arena: Etihad (Yas Island).
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
22.10.2022 21:40
On October 22, on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi (UAE), the most high-profile UFC tournament of the year will occur. In one of the main card fights, Russian fighter Petr Yan will meet American Sean O'Malley.
The bout will take place in the lightest weight class. Petr Yan is the number one fighter in the featherweight division, while Sean O'Malley is the number 11 contender. In bookmaker's betting odds, the Russian is the favorite.
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When we say that Petr will beat someone easily, we take the dry residue of the fighters level. For example, Petr's opposition before the UFC and during the UFC, his skill, and his opponent's skill. All fighters grow as they climb the ladder and reach some top value.
In our case, you can see that Yan is focused. Media is silent, he doesn't go on air, and there's not a lot of traveling and flying around. He is concentrated. He's back in Thailand, where he has a great camp. We have no doubts about his physical condition at all. Mentally, he's also all aware of what he needs to do. The bottom line is the levels of fighters. We don't see what Sean O'Malley can beat Peter with.
The punches? They're slow. Even long arms won't be an advantage because Ian is skillful and quick to shorten the distance. He doesn't care what his opponent's size is. Creating problems for O'Malley can. But that's OK. No one is saying that Petr will wave and Sean will fall, so that it might be an exciting fight.
We talked to Yan before he flew out to Thailand. He said he's used to fighting five rounds. Here we'll have to cut everything in half, and he'll have to fill the gas tank up. There's no time to get in and turn it on. Yan has outlined this aspect himself. He's worked it out, and from the first minutes of the first round, he'll take the pace that not every man can physically withstand that pace. O'Malley had never had to deal with that kind of pressure. It's going to be psychologically tough to handle here, too. We don't think Sean can manage what Petr will offer him in the octagon. It's going to be a sprint, and it's not going to last three rounds. It will end in the second round - a straight knockout or a submission.