American fighter Sean O'Malley called himself a 'pink poodle,' threatening 'to kill the little Russian' at UFC 280

• Sean O'Malley fanned the flames of his rivalry with UFC 280 opponent Petr Yan this week.
• In promotional footage ahead of their bout, O'Malley said he is coming "to kill the little Russian."

American fighter Sean O'Malley said he's a "pink poodle" who's going to "kill the little Russian" Petr Yan at their upcoming UFC 280 fight Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

O'Malley is a Contender Series graduate whose wild popularity appears to have yielded a significant bout against the UFC's No. 1 bantamweight, Yan.

The Russian fighter called O'Malley a "pink poodle" in a June tweet, saying if he won his fight that weekend then he'd be happy to meet him in the Octagon later in the year.

"I dare you to call me out, and I will accept it," Yan said.

An accidental eye poke in O'Malley's UFC 276 fight against Pedro Munhoz rendered the Brazilian unable to continue, resulting in a no-contest.

A 135-pound fight against Yan materialized anyway on the main card of one of the UFC's most significant events of the year, and it's a match O'Malley is generating interest in — perhaps because of lines like the ones he said in the first episode of UFC 280: Embedded Vlog Series on YouTube.

"I got Petr a present," O'Malley said in the promotional footage while wearing a pink wig. "Pink poodle — coming to kill the little Russian."

Tim Welch, O'Malley's head coach, then said that as fight night draws near, they've been "running over the basics, a lot of his tricks to just keep it fresh in his mind."

Welch said they've been training specifically for Yan because of how good the opponent is. Regardless, he said they're "super confident … and ready to go."

His coach previously said the last person Yan will want to lose to is the 'pink poodle' O'Malley

Speaking to MMA personality The Schmo, Welch said: "We're gonna see the best Petr Yan there is. He's a fucking terminator. The last person he wants to lose to is the pink poodle.

"So, he's gonna come ready to go but we'll be ready to go also."

Elsewhere on the UFC 280 main card, which is being broadcast on ESPN+, Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot collide in a lightweight banger, and T.J. Dillashaw challenges Aljamain Sterling for his UFC bantamweight title.

In the main event, Islam Makhachev — a protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov's — fights Charles Oliveira in a lightweight five-rounder.