Sean O’Malley says Petr Yan “rocked” him and it was the “hardest” he’s ever been hit: “Just f*****g cracked me”

Sean O’Malley says Petr Yan hit him harder than he’s ever been hit before at UFC 280.

O’Malley was set for the toughest test of his career at UFC 280 as he squared off against the former champ in Yan. ‘Suga’ was a sizeable underdog heading into that fight and many were writing him off. However, he proved his doubters wrong by edging out a split decision win.

Although it was a competitive fight – with many thinking Yan won – O’Malley still proved a lot. He landed some big shots on the former 135lbs title holder and did significant damage to his face. Yan also landed a big shot during the contest that appeared to rock ‘Suga.’ O’Malley has now admitted in a podcast with Logan Paul that Yan’s punch was the hardest strike he’s ever been hit with.

Sean O’Malley talking about how hard Petr Yan hit him 😳 pic.twitter.com/8ev0xdvSIE

— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) October 31, 2022

“Just f*cking cracked me, bro. That’s definitely the hardest I’ve ever been hit,” O’Malley said on the podcast. “I didn’t go out or didn’t not know where I was at. I remember, boom I got rocked and then we kinda got into a scramble and I ended up on my back closed my guard and held him there.”

Sean O’Malley Credits Petr Yan

Although he did get rocked, Sean O’Malley doesn’t think he did anything wrong technique-wise.

Instead, for O’Malley, he believes Petr Yan is just that good. With that being said, ‘Suga’ believes that also proves how good he is due to the fact he was able to recover and was able to land some solid shots on Yan afterward.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong, it just how good that motherf****r is,” O’Malley said. “I don’t think I over-committed. You know re-watching it, I wasn’t like f**k I wish I didn’t do that, the motherf****r’s just that good dude. Maybe, I don’t know, usually, in those positions I’m so good finding that motherf*****s chin and putting his lights out. I’m good at finding people’s chins, that’s the name of the game that’s what I’m so good as doing and finding his chin.

“The motherf****r’s defense dude is as high-level as it gets. So the fact that I did find his chin and I did drop him,” O’Malley continued. “I don’t think anyone has dropped him – maybe John Dodson. He’s fought some killers that haven’t done shit to him and I was able to drop him so I don’t know if would really do anything different. Obviously, I wouldn’t have liked to get hit by that shot, that motherf****r was just that good.”

With the win, Sean O’Malley improved to 16-1 and one No Contest.