Sean O’Malley has explained that there is a key factor that might be keeping Petr Yan from granting him a rematch.

Former bantamweight champion O’Malley infamously has a controversial decision win over Yan from their initial meeting in 2022 that catapulted him to his initial title shot. He also defeated the consensus top contender Song Yadong as recently as this year.

How do you think a rematch between Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley plays out?

Despite these two victories, it didn’t seem on Saturday night that when Yan overcame Merab Dvalishvili to settle their trilogy there was a clamour to start grooming ‘Suga’ for a shot at the belt. He feels that there is a big reason for that.

Sean O’Malley thinks Petr Yan is worried about massive size difference

Back when Petr Yan was beaten by Sean O’Malley, it came in the middle of a disastrous 1-4 run for the Russian after he had climbed to undisputed and interim bantamweight gold. Many felt that his run atop the division might be over, but he has rebuilt and now is considered an all-time great.

His current winning streak started with Song Yadong before continuing through former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, Marcus McGhee and now two victories over Merab Dvalishvili. O’Malley noted that all of these fighters are around Yan’s size, while he is considerably bigger for the weight.

“I don’t think Petr Yan is scared of Suga Sean O’Malley by any means,” he told The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned today. “But I do think he remembers, that was a tough fight, that was a close fight and he’s gotten a lot better while I’ve gotten a lot better.

“I think I’m a tough stylistic matchup for Petr Yan. I do think he knows that, he recognizes that. I don’t think he’s scared or he’s ducking me or anything like that.

“But I do think in his little Russian head that he’s like, ‘Ah, f—‘! It’s a different fight. I’m not 5’5. I’m not like Song or Merab, I’m not this little ball, I’m 6’3 [his height is recorded as 5’11].”