Sean O’Malley is happy to battle for UFC Whitehouse, however Ayeman Zahavi wasn’t his first alternative.
O’Malley, who picked up a long-awaited victory over Son Yadong in January, remained within the thick of bantamweight title competition, particularly since rival Merab Dvalishvili (who has two wins over O’Malley) lately dropped the belt to Petr Yan. It might have made sense for O’Malley, who defeated Yan in a detailed battle at UFC 280, for the 2 to rematch for the championship, however O’Malley was as a substitute requested to face Zahavi on June 14, and Yan remained unbooked.
If something, O’Malley mentioned, Yang did not wish to battle again.
“I used to be scheduled to battle Petr Yan, the champion and little Russian, however I did not wish to battle this time as a result of I beat him final time,” O’Malley informed FOX 11 Los Angeles. “It’ll be an enormous battle. I am preventing a man named Ayeman Zahavi. He is on a seven-fight win streak. He is from Canada, he is Canadian, so it is sort of thrilling from that perspective as a result of it is America vs. Canada.”
“Very powerful, very sturdy, very skilled. It is a very powerful battle. It is an thrilling problem, however he will be within the model of a kickboxer. So it may be a really thrilling, electrical kickboxing battle with little gloves on.”
Whether or not it is Yang or Zahavi, O’Malley will take pleasure in some type of home-field benefit when visiting the White Home. The Montana native’s previous three opponents have all come from outdoors the US, and whereas O’Malley would not wish to lean an excessive amount of towards the US in his worldview, he sees potential for a storyline in Canada’s Zahavi.
“I am not a really political particular person, under no circumstances political in any respect,” O’Malley mentioned in a separate interview. In opposition to the Cage. “For me, it would not matter who I battle, however it’s America vs. Canada and that has somewhat to do with it. It is simply man vs. man. We’re locked within the door and we’ll see who quits, who breaks, who will get knocked out first. That is what the battle is all about to me.”
“But it surely’s enjoyable. There’s somewhat little bit of an American and Canadian aspect, so it provides somewhat little bit of that. Group vs. group, individuals like to choose groups, so there’s that side of it, however for me it is simply man vs. man.”
The victory over Music erased O’Malley’s two-fight disqualification, each of which got here within the title battle towards Dvalishvili. It is unclear which challenger will probably be chosen from the candidate line till Yan’s subsequent title protection is booked, however the fashionable O’Malley is hoping a robust exhibiting within the UFC White Home will get him the place he needs to be.
“Possibly if I had gone on the market and completed Music in an effective way, we might have gained towards Petr,” O’Malley mentioned. “I do not know. The UFC is doing what they do and all I can do is go on the market and battle and placed on a efficiency. So if I’m going on the market and placed on a gorgeous efficiency, I do not perceive why I haven’t got the subsequent title. If Merab-Petr is subsequent and Merab wins, we’ll see the way it goes.”
