Coach Tim Welch believes Petr Yan will have a hard time getting to Sean O'Malley.
O’Malley (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) faces Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) on the main card of UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi. Former bantamweight champion Yan is undoubtedly O’Malley’s toughest test on paper, but Welch doesn’t think the odds are reflective of how the fight will pan out.
Yan will be at a big height and reach disadvantage against O’Malley, which Welch sees his star pupil capitalizing on very effectively.
“We train with super elite people,” Welch told Submission Radio. “We train with very good strikers too. And all the people that he spars that are that size, he makes them look stupid. And Petr’s probably a little bit on another level than a lot of them, and he’s gonna be really tough. But a big cage and the size difference and the speed difference and the accuracy of Sean and how good he is at punching at range, I think it’s gonna be the closer we get, I feel like Sean could make Petr look stupid.”
He continued, “When I really think about it, and I really think of the size difference, and I really think of how Petr really lunges in on his punches, and I feel like he’s gonna get kind of frustrated and really have to take a risk, and I think Sean might KO him.”
Yan is coming off a title loss against champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273 where he was heavily controlled on the ground for almost two full rounds. But Welch doesn’t see that loss impacting Yan and expects him to be sharp on the night.
“We’re planning on him not having any mental gaps,” Welch said. “We’re planning on him being a durable terminator for 15 minutes. He’s not gonna really have any mental weaknesses. In the Aljamain fight, he made a couple of tactical errors. That’s all it was. So we’re planning on him to be ready to f*cking go for 15 minutes. It’s just gonna be whoever makes a mistake first.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 280.
