O'Malley and Yan exchange messages about potential title fight matchup

Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan have traded messages about a possible bantamweight title matchup, with O'Malley sharing a voice-note exchange between the two fighters.

O'Malley told Yan he hopes the champion gets past Merab Dvalishvili so that he can beat him again. Yan responded by inviting O'Malley to Abu Dhabi, saying: "I smash Merab and you will be next." The exchange is a war of words between the fighters and does not amount to a booked bout.

The fighters

Yan, 33, holds the bantamweight title and carries a 20-5-0 record. The Russian, who trains at the Archangel Michael Club, fights from a switch stance and lands 5.12 significant strikes per minute at 54 percent accuracy. He also averages 1.58 takedowns per 15 minutes.

O'Malley, 31, is ranked second at bantamweight with a 20-3-0 record. The American out of MMA Lab is a switch-stance striker standing five-foot-eleven with a 72-inch reach. He lands 6.05 significant strikes per minute at 60 percent accuracy, the highest output and accuracy of the three men involved in the exchange.

Dvalishvili, 35, is the division's top-ranked contender at 21-5-0 and sits second in the pound-for-pound rankings. The Georgian is a wrestling-heavy fighter who averages 6.4 takedowns per 15 minutes, a rate far above either Yan or O'Malley. At five-foot-six with a 68-inch reach, he is the smallest of the three.

Why it matters

• Yan's reply links his own title future to a showdown with Dvalishvili, the top-ranked bantamweight, before any O'Malley fight.
• O'Malley, ranked second, is positioning himself as the next challenger in a crowded top of the division.
• The styles contrast sharply: O'Malley's precise, high-volume striking against the takedown pressure Dvalishvili brings, with Yan sitting between them as a switch-stance boxer who also wrestles.

For now, the messages show that both men are open to a meeting, with Yan setting the condition that he deals with Dvalishvili first.