Petr Yan reacts following controversial split decision loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280

Petr Yan has reacted after suffering a controversial split decision loss to Sean O’Malley at today’s UFC 280 event in Abu Dhabi.

Yan (16-4 MMA) had entered today’s contest looking to rebound from his split decision loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273. Prior to that setback, ‘No Mercy’ was coming off a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen.

Meanwhile, Sean O’Malley (16-1 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since July’s UFC 276 event, where his bout with Pedro Munhoz was ruled a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke. Prior to that inconclusive result, ‘Suga’ had earned three stoppage wins in a row over opponents Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho and Raulian Paiva.

Tonight’s ‘O’Malley vs Yan’ contest proved to be a thrilling back and forth affair. Round one was closely contested but ‘No Mercy’ appeared to have a dominant second round and many thought he could be up on the scorecards 2-0 headed into round three. The final five minutes saw Sean O’Malley land some big shots but Petr Yan also landed a few takedowns. The bout went to the judges’ scorecards for decision and ‘Suga’ was awarded the split decision win.

Official UFC 280 Result: Sean O’Malley def. Petr Yan by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

A ton of pro fighters reacted to the result with mixed emotions, including Jorge Masvidal suggesting that the judges in Abu Dhabi were “f**king up” fighter’s careers (see more on that here).

Most recently it was Petr Yan who took to social media where he blasted the UFC 280 judges for their poor judgement of the fight.

Fuck the judges!

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) October 22, 2022

“F**k the judges!” – Yan wrote on Twitter.

With today’s setback, ‘No Mercy’ is just 1-3 over his past four Octagon appearances. During that stretch Yan has suffered a DQ loss and now two controversial split decisions.

How did you score today’s bantamweight fight between Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley at UFC 280? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!