Sean O’Malley Pitched Next Fight ‘Once He Loses to Merab' at UFC 306

Henry Cejudo says Sean O'Malley is the only fight that will keep him in the UFC bantamweight division.

Christopher De Santiago | Sep 9, 2024

Craig Kidwell-Imagn Images

Sean O'Malley has some doubters ahead of his title fight against Merab Dvalishvili.

The Sugar Show takes over the Sphere in Las Vegas this Mexican Independence Day weekend with O'Malley defending his bantamweight title for a second time versus Dvalishvili, the undeniable #1 contender, at Noche UFC.

O'Malley has touted this fight as a "nightmare matchup" for Dvalishvili, given what he believes to be a massive edge in the striking department. Though, others like bantamweight rival and former two-division UFC Champion Henry Cejudo tend to disagree, believing Dvalishvili's high-paced wrestling and cardio will be too much for a striker like "Suga" to handle.

Still funny how much this Sean O'Malley & Cejudo clip looked like a scene from The Office 😭 pic.twitter.com/BkYuyT4o6l
— Elon Rakhmonov (Fan) 🇦🇺 (@ElonRakhmonov) July 11, 2024

Ex-UFC Champ Predicts Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili - ‘He’s in Trouble'

Cejudo Says There Are No Other Fights For O'Malley Other Than Him

Despite being an Olympic Gold Medalist in freestyle wrestling, Cejudo was the one taken down by Dvalishvili in their fight at UFC 298, losing his second-straight fight upon his return from retirement. Expecting Dvalishvili to pull off the upset in the Sphere, Cejudo thinks he's within reach of a potential fight with O'Malley, a fighter he's been calling out for a few years now.

"Once he loses to Merab, because I do believe he's going to lose to Merab, the next fight that's that's up is me and him," Cejudo started to explain on Pound 4 Pound. "Deiveson [Figueiredo] is gonna fight Petr Yan. Umar's [Nurmagomedov] already fighting for the belt. The only dude that's really left in that whole division is myself. So, the next best thing is gonna be me.

"Granted, I lost to the former champion," Cejudo brought up his title fight loss Aljamain Sterling. "I lost to the soon to be pending world champion. But, what can we say, dude? I think after this fight, I know that Merab is going to get this win. I know a little bit of O'Malley's fight camp and how it's been going..."

Craig Kidwell-Imagn Images

What About Cejudo's Flyweight Move?

As for where Henry Cejudo's career is going, the 37 year-old has entertained the possibility of going back down to the flyweight division, having never lost the title to anyone at 125lbs but vacating it due to his bantamweight title reign taking up his time.

Cejudo says the one fight that could keep him from a return to the weight class is a fight against, you guessed it, Sean O'Malley.

"I am planning on going to flyweight. I've started my diet. I'm gonna do everything right. And the only reason why I even wanna do that because... I gotta pretty much reach that new height of of discipline. But there's one fight, and I'm gonna go back to this. I think the fight between me and Sean O "Smelly", Ronald McDonald, makes a lot of sense, dude.

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"I think we can do it here in Phoenix [Arizona]. That's the only fight at 135lbs and that would get me quicker to the title shot at 135lbs, so I will still love that," Cejudo said of the O'Malley fight.

We'll see if there's any potential for O'Malley vs. Cejudo after Saturday, all depending on how the action of Noche UFC unfolds.

Henry Cejudo Teases Major Career Move, Potential Fight with Former UFC Champion

Cejudo Says There Are No Other Fights For O'Malley Other Than Him

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