UFC 280: Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley Picks and Predictions

Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley face off on Saturday in bantamweight bout in a bantamweight battle in the main card of UFC 280 at Etihad Arena at Abu Dhabi. Yan pushed O’Malley during a faceoff and that only raises the level of this fight. 

Petr Yan comes into this fight with a 16-3 record overall but he has lost two of his last three fights. Three fights ago he was DQ’d against Aljamain Sterling, and in the last fight on April 9th, he lost by a split decision. On April 9th, 2022 he outstruck Sterling 63-62 but he was takedown twice. Yan is averaging 5.45 significant strikes per minute while giving up 3.88 significant strikes per minute. Yan is averaging 1.48 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 61 percent of his takedown attempts. He is stopping 90 percent of his takedown attempts. He is averaging 0.2 submission attempts every 15 minutes. 

On the other side of this matchup is Sean O’Malley who sits with a 15-1 record overall and he had won three fights in a row before the last fight ended in a no-contest against Pedro Munhoz. Two fights ago against Raulian Paiva on December 11th he outstruck his opponent 39-11 and late in the first round he finished the fight by knockout. O’Malley is averaging 7.75 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.48 significant strikes per minute. He is averaging 0.54 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 50 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 64 percent of his opponents takedown attempts.