Video: Song Yadong destroys Sean O’Malley following COVID mask staredown — ‘Only stretch of his career when people liked him’

Song Yadong is not happy with Sean O’Malley wearing a COVID mask during their recent staredown and he just hit the former UFC bantamweight champion with one of the worst low blows.

On Friday, select fighters joined on stage for UFC’s 2026 Seasonal Press Conference. This happened to feature both O’Malley and Yadong, who will meet on UFC 324’s main card on Jan. 24 LIVE on Paramount+ from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be one of the biggest Q1 matchups in the UFC’s jam-packed bantamweight division.

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There’s really no history between O’Malley and Yadong, but things turned a little personal during their press conference staredown. That’s because O’Malley decided to wear a COVID mask during his faceoff with Yadong, who is a Chinese fighter. It was an obvious shot at Yadong, but not really a clever one at that.

Check it out below:

After their staredown, Yadong took to social media to send a message to O’Malley and anyone else who thought his COVID prank was funny, suggesting “Suga” hasn’t been popular since the COVID outbreak back in 2020. Check it out below and let us know who won this early exchange between O’Malley and Yadong:

“O’Malley grabbing a covid mask is a throwback to the only stretch of his career when people liked him,” wrote Yadong.