On October 22 at UFC 280, O'Malley sensationally defeated Petr Yan by split decision. This victory allowed the American to rise to the first line in the ranking of the lightest division.
“I think that O'Malley should have done much more to defeat Jan, but the judges determined him the winner. Sean is still a great fellow, I congratulate him.
However, I do not think that he is ready for the duel with Sterling. It's not the smartest fight for him. If I were Dana White, I would have arranged this fight, but if I were Sean, I would have had one more fight before the title meeting, ”McCarthy said on the Weighing In podcast.