Sean O'Malley sends message to bantamweight title challenger Henry Cejudo
Sean O'Malley has taken a jibe at Henry Cejudo ahead of the latter's upcoming world title matchup. Cejudo, a former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, is currently scheduled to make his long-awaited comeback to professional MMA next month.
Cejudo announced his MMA retirement in May 2020 and hasn't competed in the ensuing years. He's set to return and will fight reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 on May 6th. Notably, many in the MMA community believe that O'Malley will likely fight the winner of the Sterling-Cejudo matchup for the title later this year.
A longtime rival of Henry Cejudo, Sean O'Malley has now taken to his official Twitter account to warn 'Triple C'. Addressing a possible future showdown against Cejudo, 'Sugar' suggested that he'd knock him out. O'Malley tweeted:
"I KO Henry"
I KO Henry
Sean O'Malley's most recent fight was a closely-contested one, which witnessed him defeat former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan via split decision in October 2022. Meanwhile, Aljamain Sterling last faced former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw in October 2022. 'Funk Master' successfully defended his UFC bantamweight title by beating Dillashaw via second-round TKO.
As for Henry Cejudo, his most recent MMA bout took place in May of 2020. Cejudo was the UFC bantamweight champion at the time and successfully defended the title via second-round TKO against former UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz. 'Triple C' retired from the sport of MMA after beating Cruz.
When Sean O'Malley predicted a stoppage victory for Aljamain Sterling against Henry Cejudo
In an interview with MMA legend Michael Bisping late last year, Sean O'Malley put forth his take regarding the much-discussed possible Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo matchup.
The Sterling-Cejudo fight wasn't officially announced at the time. Regardless, O'Malley revealed his prediction and picked 'Funk Master' to win via stoppage.
Henry Cejudo will make his return to the Octagon on May 6 at UFC 288 to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title, UFC announced Friday. https://t.co/uo2aD937Zp
Sean O'Malley suggested that he was unable to understand why the UFC was taking so long to book the Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo matchup. Moreover, 'Sugar' opined that if the fight does come to fruition, Sterling would probably choke Cejudo out.
O'Malley said on the Believe You Me podcast:
"To be honest, I think Aljo probably submits Henry. Who knows how hard Henry's been training? You know, these last few years he had a baby. I mean, he clearly wasn't in, like, good shape. You know, every time you saw him at the fights, he looked fat, drunk."
Watch the full Believe You Me episode below (O'Malley interview starts at 3:01):