Henry Cejudo worried that Sean O'Malley's transformation from looking like The Simpsons' character Milhouse to having face tattoos indicates giving in to distractions
Henry Cejudo seemingly believes that the change in 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's appearance suggests that he's giving in to distractions. 'Triple C' opined that in the early stages of his UFC career, O'Malley looked like Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten, a nerdy character from the famous American animated sitcom 'The Simpsons.'
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Cejudo indicated that 'Sugar' went from being a nerd to a rich, Lamborghini-driving man with face tattoos. The former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion opined that O'Malley drastically changed his look and created a new persona to promote himself better.
'Triple C' claimed that Sean O'Malley's transformation might indicate that he has gotten distracted. Cejudo stated:
"When he [O'Malley] first came into the UFC, he looked like Milhouse... No tattoos, his curly hair, pretty. He's a little Jolly Green Giant-type kid. And now all of a sudden, he's got tattoos, he dyes his hair, he's riding Lamborghinis, sleeping in silk pajamas."
Cejudo emphasized that buying into his own persona and hype could be a huge distraction for 'Sugar'. He notably asserted that "Money is not going to equal world championships" and insinuated that Sean O'Malley is yet to prove his mettle as a fighter against a top-10-ranked UFC bantamweight. Cejudo continued:
"He understands the marketing game too. But when you start getting tattoos on your face, and you start doing X, Y, and Z; I start to wonder are you like '6ix9ine' [American rapper]? Are you actually gonna buy into your persona to where you become that?"
Watch Cejudo discuss the topic at 5:41 in the video below:
Sean O'Malley will be hunting a finish against Petr Yan at UFC 280
While Henry Cejudo and Sean O'Malley have taken jibes at each other in the past, a fight between them is unlikely to materialize in the immediate future. Cejudo retired in 2020 and O'Malley is scheduled to fight Petr Yan at UFC 280 on October 22.
Speaking to Full Send MMA earlier this year, O'Malley labeled Yan as one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters. Regardless, he stressed that his goal is always to finish his opponents and added that he intends to knock 'No Mercy' out. 'Sugar' said:
"The dude [Petr Yan] is legitimate, real deal, No.1 contender. I'm going to go out there and do what I need to do to get the job done. But, ideally, I'm putting him face first."
Watch O'Malley's assessment below: