Sean O’Malley believes his victory over Song Yadong earlier this year deserves more credit following Yadong’s impressive knockout win over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Shanghai.
Yadong scored a major upset in Saturday’s main event, stopping Nurmagomedov and securing his second consecutive victory since losing a decision to O’Malley at UFC 324 in January.
The result has given O’Malley a fresh perspective on his own performance against Yadong. The former UFC bantamweight champion believes the win looks increasingly impressive given Yadong’s reputation as one of the division’s most dangerous fighters.
O’Malley also pointed out that he entered the Yadong matchup after suffering back-to-back defeats against Merab Dvalishvili, making the decision to book him against another dangerous contender particularly significant.
Speaking with his coach, Tim Welch, on their YouTube channel this week, O’Malley reflected on the criticism surrounding his performance against Yadong.
“I remember after my fight with Song, people were like, ‘oh, that fight was blah, blah, blah.’ I feel like now you can look back on that fight and go, ‘okay, that was a sick performance.’ Song's very dangerous, and I knew that going into the fight,” O’Malley said.
According to O’Malley, Yadong’s track record should have made it clear just how difficult the matchup was.
“The average people, they know Song's dangerous. Look at his fucking KO streaks. Look at his fights. No one ever smoked him. I think I've probably beat him the most definitive, and it was still close.”
O’Malley added that his assessment of his own performances tends to change with time. Immediately after fights, he said, he is often more critical of his performance than he is after revisiting the footage months later.
“I re-watched that fight recently. I was telling you. I'm like, man, I watched it before the Umar fight. I watched it last week, and I was like looking at fights with different perspectives,” O’Malley said.
“Right after my fights, I watch my fights (and) I'm a lot more tough on myself, but then I watch it a few months later, and I'm like, ‘man, that was a great performance.’”
Yadong’s recent run has only strengthened O’Malley’s argument. After losing to O’Malley, Yadong bounced back with consecutive wins, culminating in his knockout of Nurmagomedov in Shanghai.
“That was a good fight, it was a solid win and I was coming off two losses and they give me Song Yadong. And then he goes on to do this!”
For O’Malley, Yadong’s continued success provides further evidence that his January victory should be viewed as one of the stronger performances of his career.
Yadong, meanwhile, has now established himself as a major force in the bantamweight division following his victory over Nurmagomedov, while O’Malley’s win over him has taken on additional significance in hindsight.
