Sean O’Malley finally managed to snap his two-fight losing skid this past weekend by cruising to a unanimous decision win against Song Yadong at the UFC 324 co-main event.
The fight was definitely a closely contested affair, and many fans and analysts felt O’Malley did not do enough to be on the winning end.
In the first two rounds, ‘Suga’ was taken down twice. Yadong fought a more calculated fight over the opening 10 minutes. In the third round, looking for a finish, the Chinese fighter shifted to heavy forward pressure and walked into the fire, giving the former UFC champ the openings he needed to land sharp jabs and clean counters.
After finally getting his hand raised, O’Malley expressed interest in running it back with the current and two-time bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
Sean O’Malley admits he took winning for granted
At the post-fight presser, Sean O’Malley reflected on how special this win against Song Yadong feels. He also confessed that early in his career, he had taken winning for granted. He said:
“Yeah, I felt like I took winning for granted for a while. I feel like I just never lost. Never lost. Never lost. Now coming off two losses, I was like, ‘Man, it really feels good to win.’ So, I just, yeah, I don’t usually get like that too. Usually, after a win, I just kind of, you know, as I said, I just feel like I was always going to win. So after coming off those losses, I definitely uh felt good.”
Check out Sean O’Malley’s comments below (0:12):
Sean O’Malley lost his strap to Merab Dvalishvili in 2024, and in 2025, in the title rematch, ‘The Machine’ submitted him. Before these two back-to-back losses, ‘Suga’ had just one loss in MMA. He did not know what losing feels like, as he admitted during the presser.
O’Malley has made lifestyle adjustments over the past few months, all in an attempt to improve in the octagon and reclaim the UFC bantamweight gold.