O'Malley reveals UFC rejected his Petr Yan request before booking Zahabi at White House card

Sean O’Malley will face Aiemann Zahabi at the UFC White House card, but the former bantamweight champion has revealed that fight came together only after the promotion turned down his preferred opponent — Petr Yan — without explanation.

“At first, I asked for Petr,” O’Malley told MMA Fighting. “They said no. They didn’t say any reason, they didn’t say anything. They just said he’s not available. Then they offered me Aiemann and I said yeah.”

The admission cuts against a widely held perception that O’Malley’s star power translates into control over his own matchmaking. He was quick to point out the irony: he had also requested Zahabi ahead of his previous fight, only for the UFC to book him against Song Yadong instead. “I wanted to fight Aiemann last time and they said no, they gave me Song. I wanted to fight Petr, they said no. They gave me Aiemann. UFC does what UFC does and there’s a reason they’re the UFC. So here we are. I’m excited about the matchup.”

The desire to fight Yan was hardly surprising in context. O’Malley holds a 2022 win over the Russian and watched him dethrone Merab Dvalishvili in December to become a two-time UFC bantamweight champion. A rematch carried obvious commercial logic, yet the promotion passed.

O’Malley’s path back to a title shot is complicated further by his record against Dvalishvili. He lost his belt to the Georgian in their first meeting and holds two losses to him overall. Dvalishvili has publicly stated he has been promised the next crack at Yan, leaving O’Malley uncertain about where an impressive win over Zahabi would actually land him in the queue.

“I’d like to say yes [they’ll give me a title shot] but I also just think if they weren’t going to give me the Petr Yan fight on the White House card, I don’t know if they’ll give it to me,” O’Malley said. “Merab fought four title fights in one year. I don’t know if they feel they owe him something. Four title fights in one year is absolutely insane. Maybe that’s where their head’s at.”

For now, O’Malley’s focus is on Zahabi and the opportunity the White House card presents. A dominant performance would at minimum keep him in the title conversation, even if the UFC’s matchmaking — as he has made clear — ultimately remains out of his hands.