Sean O’Malley vows to put Petr Yan “face first into the canvas” at UFC 280: “This fight is how superstars get created”

Sean O’Malley is confident he won’t just beat Petr Yan but will KO him.

O’Malley is set for the toughest test of his career when he faces Yan at UFC 280 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. It’s an intriguing matchup as Yan is coming off the title fight loss to Aljamain Sterling, while O’Malley is getting a massive step up in competition. Despite it being his toughest test to date, ‘Suga’ is confident he will beat Yan and do so in violent fashion.

“People look at him like he’s this absolute killer, but I believe in my skill set,” O’Malley said on a UFC promo video. “I have a longer reach and I do believe I will go in there and bounce my hands off his face until he falls. This fight is how superstars get created. UFC 280, I put Petr face first into the canvas in Abu Dhabi.”

If O’Malley does not only beat but knockout Yan it would be impressive as the Russian has never been knocked out before. Yet, we have seen ‘Suga’ turn the lights off on many of his previous opponents, so it wouldn’t be something new.

If he does score the finish it will only add to his star power as his next fight would be for the belt. Sean O’Malley is already a massive star but he believes finishing Yan turns him into that Conor McGregor-level star.

“People want a superstar. There’s really no one in the UFC right now that is that Conor level. Me, I go out there and beat Petr in spectacular fashion, I’m climbing. I’m not going to be there yet and I know that, but I’m climbing to become that guy. I want to be the Conor, I don’t want it to be competitive to where it’s like, ‘You’re up there with this.’ I want to be that guy. And I think the UFC fans want that,” O’Malley said on DC & RC. “They want somebody that they can get super, super excited about, so most people think I’m going to lose but I think the majority of people want me to go out there and win, which is rare, I don’t usually think that, but I do think in this case that’s what it is.”

O’Malley enters this fight against Yan coming off a No Contest against Pedro Munhoz back at UFC 276.

Do you think Sean O’Malley will KO Petr Yan at UFC 280 as he says?