Sean O’Malley sees an opening to land a big fight at the UFC White House event.
O’Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Song Yadong (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
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With his two losses coming in title fights against Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley’s path back to the belt appeared difficult. But now that Petr Yan dethroned Dvalishvili at UFC 323, O’Malley has new life – especially since he has a win over Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) from 2022.
“When Petr beat Merab, I got a whole new level of just like mental switch and hunger,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I’m going to go out there and beat Song, and me and Petr (fight) at the White House. I just don’t see any other – and I could be wrong, me thinking out loud. It just makes sense.
“People right now: ‘You’re coming off two losses, we don’t want to see that fight.’ Tell me that Jan. 25 after I put on a masterclass performance. Might be a 15-minute clinic, it might be a KO, but tell me that Jan. 25, ‘I don’t want to see Sean vs. Petr. We want to see Merab vs. Petr.’ You ain’t going to want to see anyone else other than me vs. Petr at the White House.”
The UFC’s scheduled June 14 White House event is being promoted as the biggest in company history. But with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira saying the White House is a no go for him, Dana White not wanting Jon Jones on the card, and UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria temporarily taking time off, O’Malley sees himself as the perfect candidate to grab the spotlight.
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“Who else are they going to have on the White House?” O’Malley said. “Pereira’s not on the card, Ilia is not going to be on the card, Conor (McGregor) who knows, Jon Jones supposedly isn’t going to be on the card. Who the f*ck else are they going to have?”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean O’Malley sees clear path to massive UFC White House fight
