According to MMA Weekly, Sean O'Malley is pulling for Petr Yan to beat Merab Dvalishvili, and the reasons are not exactly hidden given O'Malley's own history in that rivalry.

Bloody Elbow reports that O'Malley's outlook on the fight has shifted because of the timeframe around Yan's return, with O'Malley expressing concern that Yan might be making the same injury related mistake that cost him in his Merab Dvalishvili rematch.

The title fight itself is set for UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev on October twenty-fourth, with Petr Yan booked against Merab Dvalishvili, the promotion's number one ranked bantamweight. Yan is the betting favorite at minus one hundred sixty-four, with Dvalishvili sitting at plus one hundred fifty. Our own model has it close, giving Yan a fifty-five percent edge in a fight it rates as only slight confidence either way.

The numbers behind the matchup are tight too. Yan carries a one thousand five hundred fifty-two Elo rating across six tracked bouts, while Dvalishvili sits higher at one thousand six hundred eleven across seven. O'Malley, for his part, is ranked number two at bantamweight and comes in off a June fourteenth win over Aiemann Zahabi, a second round knockout by punches at the four minute, two second mark. His Elo stands at one thousand five hundred forty-two across seven bouts, keeping him firmly in the title conversation no matter who leaves UFC 333 with the belt.

Fans have already started weighing in on the discourse around the fight in this week's recap thread on r/MMA, with plenty of chatter about where O'Malley fits once the dust settles.