They went from padding O'Malley up with no-names for 4 years now to randomly giving him the most dangerous match up in the division? At least give him someone like Marlon Vera before this? He couldn't beat Chito or Pedro Munhoz, but fuck it, lets give him Petr Yan
UFC is throwing their children who can't swim into the deep end
I think UFC has realized they can't protect O'Malley anymore and he could lose to pretty much anyone in the top 10, so they are hoping they can hit a grand slam by giving him the top guy and then a title shot after
If O'Malley miraculously beats Yan and makes it look easy (ala Conor vs. Eddie Alvarez) then Dana White might die of semen loss
It's the opposite situation with Nate Diaz vs Khazmat. They know Nate Diaz is a lost cause for them long term, so they are making a money fight with those two knowing full well that Nate Diaz will be physically assaulted in the cage. It won't matter to them anymore how much his stock drops due to him being gone anyway