- Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley betting odds have moved less than 24 hours after debuting at online sportsbook BetOnline.
- From an opening odds of -400, Yan is now a bigger -500 betting favorite to beat O’Malley.
- Meanwhile, O’Malley is now listed at +375 after opening at +300 odds.
Sean O’Malley made a surprise announcement when he revealed in an interview that he will be fighting former UFC bantamweight champion, Petr Yan, at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.
However, it wasn’t a surprise when the top UFC sportsbooks installed ‘Suga’ as a heavy betting underdog against ‘No Mercy’. What’s more surprising however is that less than 24 hours after Yan opened as a huge betting favorite against O’Malley, his odds have significantly shortened.
The Lines Have Already Moved
The lines have already moved to:
Petr Yan -500 (1/5)
Sean O’Malley +375 (15/4)(odds via @betonline_ag) #UFC280
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) July 20, 2022
Yan opened as the -400 betting favorite at online sportsbook BetOnline shortly after O’Malley’s announcement. Meanwhile, ‘Suga’ hit the betting boards at +300 odds. Those odds are now history.
Before Wednesday was over, the lines already moved in Yan’s favor with the former bantamweight champion becoming a bigger betting favorite. According to the latest betting odds at BetOnline, Yan is now the -500 odds-on favorite to win the fight while O’Malley is now a longer underdog at +375 odds.
The opening odds of -400 was the second-shortest in Yan’s UFC career, with his -530 opening odds against Jin Soo Soon at UFC Fight Night 136 better. Meanwhile, this marks only the second time that O’Malley has opened as the betting underdog inside the UFC Octagon and his longest opening odds ever. Suga opened at +185 odds against Marlon Vera in 2020. He lost that fight.
O’Malley Prefers Fighting Unranked Opponents
Sean O’Malley Explains Why He Prefers Fighting Unranked Opponents https://t.co/emmrq3NMwB
— MMA News (@mmanews_com) August 15, 2021
O’Malley has opened as a betting favorite of -200 or better in six UFC bouts mainly because his previous bouts have been against unranked opponents. During an appearance at the No Jumper podcast last year, O’Malley explained that he prefers fighting unranked fighters because he will be paid the same amount of money “whether he’s fighting Louis Smolka or Petr Yan”.
The Smolka fight never came to fruition after Smolka withdrew from the bout. O’Malley ended up fighting newcomer Kris Moutinho at UFC 264 and won the fight via decision. Interestingly, three bouts later, O’Malley is actually fighting Yan. Well, it’s probably safe to assume that Dana Whit is paying him Petr Yan money to fight Yan at the loaded UFC 280 event.
O’Malley is coming off a no-contest at UFC 276 after Pedro Munhoz was unable to continue due to an eye poke. Meanwhile, Yan last fought last April 22 when he lost to Aljamain Sterling in a rematch of their UFC 259 title fight which ended controversially. On record, Yan has lost two out of his last three bouts. But he is still the no. 1 ranked bantamweight contender in the UFC and one of the best fighters in the division. So yeah, win or lose, give Sean O’Malley his flowers for stepping up to the plate to take this fight.
