Sean O’Malley unbothered by Dana White’s reluctance to make Petr Yan fight: ‘It’s just his opinion’

Sean O'Malley plans on convincing UFC president Dana White that he’s ready for Petr Yan by scoring a knockout win.

White said this week that he was initially skeptical when matchmaker Sean Shelby proposed the Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) vs. O’Malley (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) matchup for UFC 280 and needed to be swayed.

“Sean Shelby wanted that fight,” White said. “I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? You don’t make that fight now.’ … He ended up selling me on it.”