O'Malley says he's next for Yan; UFC weighing him and Song, nothing booked

Sean O'Malley has stopped asking for a title shot and started announcing one. After Petr Yan beat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333, Daniel Cormier raised Song Yadong as the champion's next challenger in the cage. O'Malley answered in a YouTube video: he will fight Yan next, and he said that holds even if the UFC books Yan against Song. He wants it in the US around the end of the first or start of the second quarter of 2027.

The UFC has not committed. White said matchmakers texted all night about Song and O'Malley and called choosing between them a pleasant problem. No Yan fight appears on any announced UFC card, including events on Jan. 16, Jan. 30 and Feb. 7.

O'Malley's case rests on results. He beat Yan by split decision at UFC 280 in 2022, 29-28 on two cards and 28-29 on the third. He also beat Song at UFC 324 in January. He says he sees the Yan fight as one that is closer and different from Yan's others, partly because of his height. Song lost to Yan at UFC 299, so the champion has beaten him as well.

The Cormier question has cooled. O'Malley's coach publicly accused Cormier of bias on October 26. O'Malley then told The Ariel Helwani Show that Cormier had messaged him on Instagram to say he should fight for the title, and that the two recorded a podcast that was cordial. He admitted he once felt Cormier wanted to see him lose, but says he no longer does.

If Song gets the call, O'Malley has a fallback. He said a fight with Payton Talbott was almost made had Dvalishvili won, and that he feels it is 'inevitable' they will fight. Nothing is booked there either.

Separately, on the MMA Guru podcast, O'Malley told young fighters that anyone aiming to be the richest person in the UFC won't get there. He said the UFC changed his life and he is forever grateful, but that there comes a point where he won't fight for just any amount. Next to watch: whether the UFC picks O'Malley or Song for Yan, and how soon it announces it.