Morning Report: Sean O’Malley fires back at critics calling win over Petr Yan a robbery: ‘You wanted me to lose in the first place’

Sean O’Malley thinks the people calling his win over Petr Yan a robbery are just hating.

At UFC 280, O’Malley took home a split decision win over Yan, in a result that had many calling the outcome a robbery, and raised rumors that Yan wants to move on from the UFC. But for O’Malley, now the UFC’s No. 1-ranked bantamweight, it was just a damn good fight.

“Woke up this morning, ranked No. 1 in the world! S*** ain’t photoshopped,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “It does feel good. It’s crazy. If I would have lost that fight, people would put a lot more respect on my name. ‘Damn, he lost but that motherf*****’s good.’ Now it’s like, ‘He won?! He won?! You’ve got to be s****** me!’ But the people that are made that I won are the one’s that said I was supposed to get whooped. Like, ‘Sean’s lucky it’s not five rounds.’ Well, my best round was my third round…

“Round one I thought was a close round. I definitely did more damage. He got a couple takedowns, didn’t really do anything with the takedowns. If you want to talk about getting takedowns, I got a takedown at the end of the round. That was two points, hit his knees, I took him down. So if you guys want to talk about takedowns, why is nobody talking about my takedown? I didn’t do s*** with it but he didn’t do s*** with his either, really. I definitely did more damage…Round one, I definitely can see how people gave me the round. Close round, for sure.

“Round two was even pretty close. I cracked him, he cracked me back. I can see how you’d give him the round, for sure though… And then round three was definitely my best round. For sure did way more damage round three.”

The fight was undoubtedly close, with O’Malley out-landing Yan statistically but giving up a considerable amount of control time to the former champion. Still, a number of fans and fighters were apoplectic with the decision, but O’Malley maintains that anyone crying “robbery” are completely off the mark.

“You wanted me to lose in the first place,” O’Malley said. “A robbery? How is it [a robbery]? Third round, I won, second round, he won, first round was close as f*** and I did more damage. It’s not really a robbery, it was a close fight. A really, really close fight… If that was Cory [Sandhagen] vs. Petr or anyone else vs. Petr and they got the nod, I wonder how much the narrative would change. Like, ‘Yeah, I could see that.’ But since it’s me and people f****** hate me because I’m 6’6”, 220, pure chocolate, and ranked No. 1 bantamweight in the f****** world, b****!”

Robbery or not, O’Malley is now the top contender in the bantamweight division, but what comes next is still a bit up in the air. Champion Aljamain Sterling threw out several possible names for his next opponent, including O’Malley, and UFC President Dana White suggested Henry Cejudo may be next in line for a title shot. O’Malley himself isn’t quite willing to demand one next, but “Sugar” does believe he’s in position to make his 2023 championship prediction come true.

“I said I was going to be champ 2023, and we’re damn near there boys,” O’Malley said. “We’re damn near there.

“It depends on this new contract I get. If I can go out there and make damn near as much money fighting in a three-round fight, let’s get it, boy. [But] no, I think a title shot is inevitable. I think that’s what’s next. Whether it’s in five months, six months, later. I don’t know, dude. I might get that itch. I’m a competitor. I love to fight, [but] the last thing you want to do is go out there and risk your title shot. I could be the f****** world champ next fight, or I could take this risky fight, lose, and then have to win two more. It’s tricky. I think a lot is going to matter when I sit down with the UFC, have a conversation with them, see where their head is at, go back and forth, and then we’ll see.”

Rankings. Islam Makhachev, Sean O’Malley turn rankings upside down with massive wins at UFC 280.

Praise. Joe Rogan praises Sean O’Malley for UFC 280 performance, but believes Petr Yan won.

KO. Anderson Silva: I ‘misspoke,’ was never knocked out in sparring.

Homecoming. Islam Makhachev receives hero’s welcome in return to Dagestan following UFC 280.

Depression. Uriah Hall reveals post-MMA struggle with depression: ‘At one point, I looked at my firearm.’

Open workouts for Jake Paul and Anderson Silva.

Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen pre-fight pressers.

MixedMollyWhoppery on Jake Paul vs. MMA.

No Bets Barred. Breaking down the best bets for UFC Vegas 63.

Teaching the youth.

Victory lap.

Insecurities.

Homer Simpson?

Alternate opinion.

Pitbull.

Arjan Bhullar trying to get traded.

Call out.

A very, very stupid thing.

Cool fight poster, though.

Raul Rosas Jr. (6-0) vs. Jay Perrin (10-6); UFC 282, Dec. 10.

Patricio Pitbull (34-5) vs. Kleber Koike Erbst (31-5-1); Bellator vs. RIZIN, Dec. 31.

A.J. McKee (19-1) vs. Roberto de Souza (14-1); Bellator vs. RIZIN, Dec. 31.

Juan Archuleta (26-4) vs. Soo Chul Kim (18-6-1); Bellator vs. RIZIN, Dec. 31.

Kyoji Horiguchi (30-5) vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-6-2); Bellator vs. RIZIN, Dec. 31.

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.