There is only one instance in the professional career of Sean O’Malley, where he won via a split decision. It was the fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280. This bout greatly entertained the world of combat sports. However, it was also clouded by controversial decisions and heated arguments among the professionals. 

What exactly happened at UFC 280 and why is it talked about with such high heat? Let’s find out everything there is to know about the bantamweight champion’s controversial victory.

Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan went to war at UFC 280!

Coming into the fight, O’Malley had a record of 15 wins and just one loss to his name, while Yan had 16 victories to his name, along with 4 defeats. The fight began with O’Malley intimidating Yan in his southpaw stance, and Yan was ready to show ‘no mercy’ as an orthodox fighter. The two exchanged a few blows when the referee warned ‘Suga’ to watch his fingers. He surely didn’t want another fight overturned because of accidental eye pokes. With a bit more than 2 minutes on the clock, ‘No Mercy’ tried to take his opponent down with a double-leg. But O’Malley backed to the cage, forcing Yan to enter his guard. The fighters soon jump back to their feet. But the horn blew hard just when ‘Suga’ took Yan’s back.

Round 2 witnessed the Russian fighter smashing O’Malley’s lead leg with kicks. But soon, ‘Suga’ sent forth an uppercut that briefly took away Yan’s balance. ‘Suga’ took control and added a few punches to his combo. But Yan took the dominant position once again with a punch and took the fight to the ground. Needless to say, O’Malley escaped from Yan’s clutches. The scene repeated and the round concluded with ‘No Mercy’ in O’Malley’s guard, sending a barrage of strikes.

The final round began with Yan’s takedown attempt, but O’Malley didn’t go down. After a brief exchange of blows, ‘Suga’ cut his opponent near his right eye with a knee. Another couple of strikes later, Yan took down O’Malley. But ‘Suga’ escaped with just 90 seconds left in the clock. Yan took the fight to the ground yet again and sent multiple punches while in O’Malley’s guard as the horn blew for the last time. 

With the kind of performance ‘No Mercy’ displayed at the bout, the whole wide world was assured of his victory. Little did they know that the official scorecard didn’t align with their thoughts.

The controversial decision and the official scorecard

No doubt, Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley displayed great skills at UFC 280. But it was Yan who won as per the fight fans. However, the judges’ decision was split. Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby scored the cards 29-28 in favor of the bantamweight champion. But Vito Paolillo thought otherwise. His cards read 29-28 as well, but they were tilted in Yan’s favor. While the second and third rounds were exactly the same for all three judges, it was the first round that caused a split decision. 

But the fighting community wasn’t happy with the outcome of the fight. Most of the fans seemed to believe that the Russian fighter was robbed of his victory. It is noteworthy to mark that UFC 280 was the first win for O’Malley that came via a split decision. Let’s find out what the professional mixed martial artists thought of the scorecards.

How did popular UFC names react to this fight?

Yan was indeed upset with the scorecards. He took to X to express his rage and wrote, “F**k the judges!” It indeed seemed like Yan was the one who dominated the Octagon. He took down his opponent quite a few times. But apparently that wasn’t enough to get him the win.

Aleksandar Rakic tweeted, “I feel sorry for @PetrYanUFC this guy got robbed for the second time in a row.” Khabib Nurmagomedov was also left baffled at the scorecards. Reacting to the result of the bout, he was caught saying, “How? How? No, how? How is it possible, brother?” His shock was pretty visible in the video that went viral on social media.

The middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, said, “Wow that was the worst call I’ve seen in a long time! Yan definitely won that fight.” Henry Cejudo had the same opinion. He wrote in his tweet, “Worst robbery I’m UFC history, I hope our sport doesn’t become boxing,” and proceeded to tag the UFC head honcho. 

Chris Weidman believed that O’Malley showed immense strength and prowess. However, it wasn’t ‘Suga’ who won the bout, as per him. Michael Chiesa claimed that he had Yan winning with a score of 30-27. But he didn’t back away from praising O’Malley and rightfully predicted that he would get his hands on the belt someday. Many others added to the discussion, claiming that it was indeed Yan’s victory. But there were some professionals who pointed out that ‘Suga’ caused more damage, and hence was given the victory.

Did Sean O’Malley outstrike Petr Yan? Official stats

Joe Rogan, even though he stood up for ‘No Mercy’, revealed the reason why the judges scored in favor of ‘Suga’. In episode #1887 of the Joe Rogan Experience, the podcaster pointed out that there were multiple instances where the current bantamweight champ inflicted damage on the Russian. While the MMA world pointed at all the takedowns Yan performed, Rogan claimed that they weren’t worth as much as the damage caused by O’Malley’s strikes.

The UFC color commentator said, “Yeah, but takedowns without damage. It’s like, what is the value—and I’m not denying that I thought Petr Yan won, cause I did think he won at the end of it. But takedowns without damage versus standup with damage, cause ‘Sugar’ landed more strikes standing, had big moments.”

Being a phenomenal striker, O’Malley indeed secured more significant strikes. He continued to do so in his subsequent fights. Now, O’Malley is all set to face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. And all he hopes for is to avoid another controversial victory by defeating ‘The Machine’ with a finish. 

What are your thoughts on O’Malley’s win at UFC 280? Do you think it should have been Yan to have his hands raised? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.