Paddy Pimblett defends Sean O'Malley's fight against Petr Yan as 'win-win'

Paddy Pimblett has defended Sean O’Malley’s decision to fight top contender Petr Yan at UFC 280.

Later this year at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, Sean O’Malley will take on the biggest challenge of his career so far when he locks horns with former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan. While there are no guarantees, many believe a resounding victory for ‘Suga’ would set him up nicely for a title shot against the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs TJ Dillashaw – which is set to go down on the same card.

The masses can see that this is a huge step up in competition for O’Malley and even though some feel like it’s quite rushed, others see it as a ‘sink or swim’ opportunity that could allow the 27-year-old to reach a level of superstardom we haven’t seen in quite some time.

Yan, meanwhile, is coming off the back of a second loss to Sterling, and he’ll be hungry to make a statement given that his last finish inside the Octagon came over two years ago.

Plenty of eyes are going to be on this showcase match-up with Paddy Pimblett being one of the many fighters who has chimed in on what could transpire in October.

During a recent episode of his podcast, ‘The Baddy’ spoke candidly about why he’s in favour of Sean taking this fight.

“It’s a win-win. Even if he loses, everybody is gonna be like, oh give him his due, he got in there with Yan.”

“I just think it really is a win-win for him. As long as he doesn’t get knocked out, you know what I mean? 

“That’s what I mean, he could [win], he’s got that power. He could knock him out.”

Since entering the UFC, the only hiccups on O’Malley’s record have been a no contest against Pedro Munhoz and a somewhat controversial stoppage loss to Marlon Vera.

Outside of that, he’s been lighting guys up with his