Sean O’Malley is oozing confidence ahead of his UFC 280 showdown with Petr Yan: “I’ll be surprised if I get hit once”

Sean O’Malley isn’t lacking confidence ahead of the biggest bout of his pro MMA career.

O’Malley is set to collide with former UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan. The action will be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It’ll serve as the co-main event of UFC 280 on October 22.

Ahead of the fight, the “Sugar” show took to his Twitter account with quite the bold statement.

I’ll be surprised if I get hit once

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 24, 2022

“I’ll be surprised if I get hit once.”

Back in August, O’Malley told ESPN that as the fight draws near, he starts believing in his ability to take out Yan more and more.

“The closer the fight gets, the more confident I’ll become. I’ll get back to camp, get dialed in, get back to sparring, get back to eating perfect, sleeping perfect, just getting everything dialed in,” O’Malley said to ESPN. “I’m just gonna get more confident as the fight gets closer. Then fight night, I’m gonna win that fight. Every fight that I go into, I’m okay with losing. I’m not attached to I have to win this fight. I’m gonna be a world champ someday, 100 percent. I’ve never been scared of losing, so I think the closer the fight gets, the more confident I’m gonna become.”

Many believe that it’s only a matter of time before Yan gets a chance to capture the 135-pound gold again. If O’Malley can pull off a victory against Yan, suddenly it would catapult him into the title picture. O’Malley is a sizable betting underdog going into the bout.

Headlining UFC 280 will be a clash to determine the new UFC Lightweight Champion. It’ll be former 155-pound titleholder Charles Oliveira taking on Islam Makhachev.