Robert ShilkovichSport correspondentAll materialsThe Russian ex-champion lost for the third time in the last four fights. The organizers packed so many top fights into the UFC 280 card that the fight between the Russian ex-champion in the bantamweight division and one of the brightest fighters of the promotion in recent years did not even reach the status of the co-main event of the event. Nevertheless, it was difficult to overestimate the tournament value of Yan's fight with O'Malley: success brought the winner to the title fight. The Russian approached the fight with Sugar after two defeats in the last three fights. Both times, Yan was upset by Aljamain Sterling — following the results of the first meeting, Peter was disqualified for an illegal strike, and in the rematch he lost by a separate decision of the judges. O'Malley, on the other hand, managed to be remembered by fans with spectacular knockouts and, of course, trash talk. You can't argue with the statistics: the American won ahead of schedule in 11 (!) fights out of 15. And Sean spoke about the fight with Ian as about another trip for a knockout. Like, his arms are longer, and he believes that «the cage will enter and will beat Yan's face with his hands until he falls.» The first round was left for the Russian fighter. Ian managed to make a successful takedown, which is unusual for him, but, compared to the second one, the first five-minute period turned out to be rather passive. From the start of the next round, the fighters actively exchanged powerful blows. O'Malley managed to shock Jan, but after a few seconds the American had to fight back. In the decisive five-minute period, the Russian tried to increase pressure on O'Malley, but missed a hard haikick that cut his eyebrow. Sugar smelled blood and went for broke in an attempt to finish the fight ahead of schedule, but Yang managed to keep the initiative in his hands, continuing to throw accurate punches and transfer the opponent to the ground. The main sensation occurred after the fight: to the surprise of many, the judges gave the victory to O' Mally by split decision. The results of the fight raised a lot of questions in the MMA community, but the fact remains: Yang suffered a second defeat in a row, while the American fighter will now gain a foothold in the top of the division and, quite possibly, get a title fight. By the way, the belt remained with Aljamain Sterling, who knocked out TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of the tournament. And Petr Yan, it seems, will have to prove his claims to the belt again. Note that the UFC recognized the fight between the Russian and the American as the best in the tournament. Both fighters will receive $50,000.
