Welcome to “Judges Gonna Judge,” where our MMA Junkie staff panel revisits the most controversial decision that occurred over the weekend.
This week, we take another look at the UFC 280 feature bout at Ethiad Arena in Abu Dhabi, a bantamweight matchup between former champion Petr Yan and rising contender Sean O'Malley.
This bout certainly did not lack action from beginning to end, meeting expectations of a bout between top names in the UFC’s bantamweight division. After 15 minutes, the judges were split with two scoring the contest in favor of O’Malley.
However, the unofficial judges watching at home were not split at all. All 26 media scores submitted to MMA Decisions scored the bout for Yan. In fact, seven of those scores did not find a single round for O’Malley.
Official judges Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby turned in 29-28 scores for O’Malley, while the dissenting judge, Vito Paolillo, issued a 29-28 in Yan’s favor. The judges differed on Round 1, leading to the split decision result.
MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells, Nolan King and Danny Segura put on their judging hats and break the fight down by each round.
If you need a refresher on the official scoring criteria before we dive in, you can check it out here.
Round 1
Wells: O’Malley managed his distance and movement well in the first minute of the fight. While circling on the outside, he offered kicks to the legs and the body, which either landed or were parried by Yan. In the second minute, Yan began to land a few strikes, but O’Malley still dictated exchanges and landed cleaner as he added punches to the mix. At 2:29, Yan shoots for a takedown, which resulted in a clinch against the fence, but O’Malley broke free at 2:05. Yan landed a nice left and then looked to close the distance with a combination, followed by a shot for another takedown at 1:30. This time he lifted and dumped O’Malley to the mat, but aside from a couple of short punches on the way back up, Yan didn’t do much damage here. Yan landed a nice leg kick, but O’Malley continued to land better strikes before shooting for a takedown of his own in the final seconds.
On first watch, I thought Yan’s strikes were more impactful. But watching this round a second time, I think O’Malley was more effective throughout the round as a whole. Yes, he was lifted and dumped for a big takedown, but not much was done with it as he did a great job at preventing damage. O’Malley really managed his distance very well in the first round, and landed more accurately than the former champ. I am now going against my initial score on fight night, and scoring this one for “Sugar.”
Wells’ score: 10-9 O’Malley
Segura: The first round was by far the most competitive round of the fight. Both fighters tested their range and each other’s timing for about a little over a minute before all hell broke loose. After the feeling-out period, O’Malley and Yan basically engaged in a striking battle for the majority of the round. Watching it live, I thought the striking was pretty much even, and then Yan’s takedown and slight top control gave him the edge.
However, I rewatched it with a cool head on Sunday evening. Upon seeing it again, O’Malley did have superior striking. He landed more than Yan and his striking seemed to do more damage. On top of that, Yan’s takedown seemed less consequential than watching it live. He controlled for about 40 seconds at most and didn’t do much damage. The second viewing really showed me how competitive it really was, hell, enough to change my mind.
Segura’s score: 10-9 O’Malley
King: Just a full disclaimer here before we get going. I scored this fight 29-28 Yan when I watched it live. I’m interested to see if I agree on rewatch, with no sound – and no recap story-writing responsibilities.
This was a close round, but a careful eye spotted a big difference I hadn’t seen on the initial watch: and that’s punch accuracy. Yan seemed to push the pace and throw nice combinations, many times looking like the quicker fighter. However, outside of a few hard kicks and a little flurry prior to a takedown attempt, Yan didn’t land enough to surpass O’Malley’s success in my opinion. O’Malley’s punches, though fairly sneaky, did seem to split Yan’s guard. The takedown from Yan was solid, but not enough damage was done for me to significantly incorporate it into my scoring.
King’s score: 10-9 O’Malley
Round 2
Wells: Yan came out with a little more pressure and landed a hard kick to the body. 20 seconds in, O’Malley absolutely cracked with a laser of a left hand that rocked Yan. O’Malley saw he was hurt and pressured looking to close the show, but Yan’s experience shined here as he covered up well and evaded damage. Then at 4:24, Yan returned the favor with a crushing left of his own that hurt O’Malley. He used the moment to get a takedown, control from guard, and land punches from top position. O’Malley got back to his feet at 3:10, but Yan kept with the clinch against the cage, where he landed a couple of strikes, including a knee to the body on the exit at 2:41. A few seconds later, Yan hit a beautiful outside trip to sweep O’Malley off his feet. O’Malley got back up quickly and attempted to hit the same technique, but Yan wasn’t having it. O’Malley landed a few sharp strikes, and continued to work behind a snappy jab, but Yan also landed a few powerful strikes before completing another takedown with less than 50 seconds remaining. The fight would stay here until the faulty air horn sounded.
This one was clear, and all three official judges agreed. There is no change of the score here. It’s a Yan round, through and through.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Yan
Segura: In the second, Yan came out far more aggressive and paid for it. O’Malley clocked him with a big left 20 seconds in and was clearly stunned. O’Malley tried to follow up with some big shots, but Yan used his experience to stay out of further trouble and recover. That’s the best it got for O’Malley in Round 2. Literally, like 15 seconds after connecting that big left, Yan wobbled O’Malley with a left. And pretty much from that point on, it was all Yan. Sure, O’Malley put on a respectable performance in that round and had a few moments here and there, but he was mainly playing catch up. Yan’s wrestling, ground-and-pound, and pressure clearly gave him the edge in this set of five minutes.
Segura’s score: 10-9 Yan
King: This was a clear-cut Yan round for me. It’s crazy, because he was the first one to get significantly cracked, but instantly “tied” up the scoring to that point with a big blow of his own. Perhaps more important than the knockdown-takedown, however, was what happened when the two fighters rose to their feet. Yan put his foot on the gas and went after O’Malley. Unlike Round 1, though, his aggression paid off. When O’Malley tried a sneaky Zabit Magomedsharipov-like jumping leg weep, he ate a big Yan punch. A Yan body kick cracked O’Malley’s ribs. That damage put Yan in the “lead,” in my opinion. He maintained his place as the winning fighter until the round ended. That included a successful takedown.
King’s score: 10-9 Yan
Round 3
Wells: O’Malley kept with the plan of sticking and moving from the outside as Yan attempted to close the distance. Yan looked for the takedown 30 seconds in, but couldn’t complete it. We then see O’Malley working comfortably through exchanges, dropping his hands for a moment as he circled around Yan. At 3:16, Yan darted ahead with punches to set up the takedown, but couldn’t get the fight to the ground. O’Malley then landed a nice knee and a punch, busting open a cut over the right eye. After Yan backed away for a moment, heated exchanges followed with both fighters landing. A big head kick from O’Malley sparked a takedown attempt, which was sprawled. In the clinch against the cage, O’Malley landed some nice elbows before Yan got him to the ground. O’Malley grabbed a kimura to get back to his feet, but Yan kept with the clinch and landed a few short punches before separating with 90 seconds to go. Sharp punches from O’Malley land, but Yan found home for a hard left and then looked for the takedown with just under a minute to go. O’Malley defended well and got back to snapping off quick jabs. Yan countered an outside trip attempt from O’Malley, resulting in the fight going to the ground to end the round.
This was the closest round of the fight for me. It had a little bit of everything, but I lean towards O’Malley here because of the damage he caused with his sharp striking. Yan had some nice moments here, but I think O’Malley was the more effective fighter, despite giving up some takedowns.
Wells’ score: 10-9 O’Malley
Segura: Alright, so now it’s a one-round fight upon watching it a second time. This round I originally gave it to O’Malley and thought it was pretty clear. But again, the second viewing made it feel much more competitive. Still, DAMAGE, DAMAGE, DAMAGE it’s what’s prioritized in the scoring criteria. And there’s no doubt who inflicted the most damage here. In the first two minutes, the round was even, with O’Malley leading slightly. However, at the 3-minute mark, O’Malley connected with a huge knee to the head that split Yan open. From there, O’Malley connected multiple shots, including a huge head kick, that had Yan backing up and just focused on protecting himself. Around the 2:30 mark, we see Yan resort to his wrestling, as he’s losing the striking battle. Yan did a good job and controlled for long lapses, but there were enough breaks where O’Malley defended takedowns and landed shots. I gave the round to O’Malley both in real-time and in the second viewing.
Segura’s score: 10-9 O’Malley
King: For the opening 90 second of the round, things were pretty even. Both men landed some and missed others. O’Malley defended a takedown nicely and right after landed the biggest strike of the round – a massive step knee that split Yan wide open. A half-blocked head kick was a nice follow-up, too. Here’s where the real scoring question lies within. Between then and the end of the round, Yan was the holder of the two most significant strikes. Both were left hands. But were they enough? While hard and at minimum slightly stunning, I think the rocking, head-cracking sequence by O’Malley outweighs them – and the rest of Yan’s success for the remainder of the fight.
King’s score: 10-9 O’Malley
Did we not give O'Malley enough credit for his work throughout this fight?
Wells: Overall, I think this fight was a high-level bout that taught us a lot about O’Malley. We’ve seen Yan break fighters in the past from his forward pressure, but O’Malley was light on his feet and did well to work through the grappling exchanges. Typically, I’m a sucker for a slick, stinging jab, and O’Malley displayed that beautifully when the fight was on the feet.
On the night of the fight, I scored this one 29-28 for Yan, but after watching again, I disagree with my own score. I think it’s important to be able to admit a mistake was made, and I’m doing that right now. Yan’s best round was the second, while O’Malley’s striking was superior in the first and third. At the end of the day, it was a close, entertaining fight, but there was absolutely no reason to use the dreaded “robbery” term here.
Wells’ overall score: 29-28 O’Malley
Segura: Look, go watch it again if you haven’t. The fight was competitive as sh*t. Yan clearly won Round 2 and O’Malley, although competitive, won Round 3. It all came down to the very first round. Ultimately, I thought O’Malley’s striking was more consequential than Yan’s striking plus takedown and 40-second control. But you could definitely argue the other way. I have no problem with that. I see the case to be made. There was no robbery here. O’Malley definitely did enough to earn a justified win.
Segura’s overall score: 29-28 O’Malley
King: Well, I walked away from the rewatch with a similar but different feeling than I did the first time around. The bottom line: this was NOT a robbery. I’d be hard to tell a judge they did a bad job if they scored it for either fighter. There are certainly educated arguments to be made. However, unlike the first watch, I feel fairly confident O’Malley landed the hard, more damaging shots throughout the bout. Round 1 was close. Round 2 was definitely Yan. Round 3 was close. So anywhere from 30-27 Yan to 29-28 O’Malley I think could be justified. With that said, I feel confident two of the three judges got it correct – the power of the no sound rewatch.
King’s overall score: 29-28 O’Malley
Official decision: Sean O’Malley def. Petr Yan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Official individual scores:
Ben Cartlidge: 29-28 O’Malley
David Lethaby: 29-28 O’Malley
Vito Paolillo: 29-28 Yan
