- Sean O’Malley is more than down to corner Petr Yan
- Could Khabib join the team?
- ‘Suga’ is learning a keyword in Russian to ‘help’ Yan
- Aljamain Sterling is willing to fight Yan without his cornermen as well
Petr Yan is likely to come in at UFC 273 without his team after his entire cornermen was denied visas into the United States. This could be a huge blow for the interim bantamweight champion, considering he is set for the most important fight of his career–a rematch with reigning champ Aljamain Sterling.
Fortunately for Yan, former UFC champ-champ Henry Cejudo and UFC breakout star Sean O’Malley are willing to corner him for the bout.
Team Yan
In a recent episode of his podcast, BroMalley, O’Malley lifted the lid on the possibility of him cornering Yan. ‘Suga’ explained how it all went down between him and Yan, regarding him ‘joining the team’. Along with revealing who another cornerman might be, O’Malley explained his hilarious secret plan for his rival Yan.
“I shot him [Yan] a little message on Insta [gram] and [he tweeted it]. It’s funny… I’ll beat his ass in the back while he’s warming up,” O’Malley joked. “This is for Ukraine!”
“If he hit me up, sure [I’ll corner him]… I don’t know [if he’s gonna pick Henry Cejudo], he’ll probably pick Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. I wonder if Khabib would [do it]. That’d be tough. Big fight, huge fight, title fight and your three main guys can’t be there. That’s tough.”
O’Malley Wants To Offer Yan Some Familiar Advice
There was one problem made by Yan’s original corner, the last time out against Aljamain Sterling. At UFC 259, the cornermen shouted to Yan to throw a knee at a grounded Sterling. It’s still unclear if Yan heard this or not, but he’d proceed to throw an illegal knee. The illegal move would cost ‘No Mercy’ the fight and the undisputed title last March.
Yan looks to write this wrong at UFC 273 against Sterling in their title rematch. Though, O’Malley wouldn’t mind seeing a replay of the infamous illegal knee this time around. So much so, that ‘Suga’ is learning how to say a few key words in Russian.
That includes the word, ‘illegal knee’. He’d even rehearse it.
“неправильное колено!” O’Malley shouted in Russian.
Sean O’Malley learned how to say ‘Illegal Knee’ in Russian so he can corner Petr Yan at #UFC273 😂 pic.twitter.com/oyOK0jKBaM
— Christopher De Santiago (@chris_dsantiago) March 18, 2022
No corner? No problem.
After learning about the news regarding team Yan, Sterling sent his arch-nemesis a message. Sterling stated he has no problem entering the fight without his team too. As per “Funk Master,” he just want to get it over with and move on to facing former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.
“I will literally leave my corner in the backroom bro,” Sterling tweeted. “Just say the word! I just wanna scrap you already and move on to Needleshaw.”
I will literally leave my corner in the backroom bro. Just say the word! I just wanna scrap you already and move on to Needleshaw. https://t.co/rqVlIAL909
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 18, 2022
