Daniel Cormier explains to Sean O'Malley why his name wasn't mentioned at UFC 333

Sean O'Malley and his head coach, along with many fans, were bothered by Daniel Cormier's handling of the aftermath of UFC 333's co-main event.

Cormier, a retired former UFC champion now a color commentator for the UFC, stepped into the cage to interview Petr Yan , who has defended his UFC bantamweight title in a thrilling trilogy bout against Merab Dvalishvili . Cormier asked Yan (21-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) if he wanted to face Song Yadong, who was in attendance, but made no mention of O'Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) – who many see as the No. 1 contender in the division.

"The other day, Petr Yan defends his title, and Song Yadong is in the arena, and I said, 'Well, Song Yadong is right there,' because if I'm being completely honest with you, the truck is in my ear saying, 'We're going to show Song,' so then obviously I'm going to say Song Yadong is right there in the arena," Cormier said on his YouTube channel , speaking to O'Malley. "Your coach took a little offense to it, who by the way, I'm going to talk to him tomorrow on his podcast. I messaged you, and you immediately said, 'I don't take it personally; there's no deal. It is what it is.'"

O'Malley and Cormier were very friendly in their conversation and made it clear there was no animosity between the two, several days removed from UFC 333. However, that wasn't O'Malley's initial reaction, and the incident was part of something that O'Malley had been feeling for some time now before clearing things up.

"At the beginning of my career, I felt like, the Terrion Ware fight, I felt, I can't even go back and pinpoint certain moments, but there were times when I was like, 'Man, does DC not really f*ck with me? Does he want to see me lose?'" O'Malley said. "Part of me had that kind of feeling over the course of fights, and it was early on in my career. I was early 20s, young kid, and then you put it in perspective, and you guys are sitting there eight, nine, 10 hours, commentating every single fight, every single card, and you're bound to say something you don't mean or it comes off the wrong way."

O'Malley is currently on a two-fight winning streak since losing his UFC title and failing to recapture it in a pair of championship fights against Dvalishvili. That streak includes a January win over Song (24-9-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC), and a June win over Aiemann Zahabi.

Keeping in mind that both O'Malley and Yan have beaten Song, Cormier does see O'Malley as the most deserving challenger for Yan, and regrets not mentioning him at UFC 333.

"Like I said, Song Yadong is in the building. You have beat Song Yadong, and honestly, in that moment, I actually forgot that you beat Song Yadong," Cormier explained to O'Malley. "You got a victory over Song Yadong, and then you got a victory, obviously, at the White House. And after the White House, if you watch the fight, me, Joe (Rogan) Jon (Anik), and I believe we're saying we think Sean should fight for the belt right now, but that didn't happen."

O'Malley feels uber confident his next fight will be for the belt, despite the momentum Yadong has picked up as of late. He feels he doesn't even need to put himself out there to secure a rematch with Yan.

"I don't think it's really a debate or argument, really," O'Malley said. "I mean, you said it. Song was in the building, they were in your ear, it makes sense. I'm not there; Song is there. But I don't think I really have to push for it or argue for it or try to do anything crazy for it. Me vs. Petr is happening next. It just is. I refuse to believe otherwise."