Sean O’Malley says Song Yadong was not the opponent he originally wanted for his 2026 return to the Octagon. After suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, the former bantamweight champion told The Ariel Helwani Show he had asked the UFC for a lower-ranked opponent.
“I asked for Aiemann Zahabi,” O’Malley said. “I was like, ‘Let’s just do something a little easier.’ But they were like, ‘Nah, we want you to fight Song Yadong.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, I guess I’ll fight Song.’”
O’Malley later clarified he had been “joking,” but admitted he viewed Zahabi as a more favourable stylistic matchup. He referenced Chael Sonnen’s philosophy of fighting “the most beatable guy for the most amount of money,” though he avoided calling any opponent “easy.”
Despite his request, O’Malley says he likes the matchup with Song, a top-five contender who debuted in the UFC the same year as him back in 2017.
O’Malley first entered the UFC eight years ago, beating Terrion Ware after a standout showing on Dana White’s Contender Series. Song’s debut came months earlier, when he submitted Bharat Khandare and earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
Now, the two rising stars will meet on the UFC 324 card—just not the fight O’Malley initially had in mind.
