Sean O’Malley thinks we’ve seen the last of Henry Cejudo in mixed martial arts (MMA).
The former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion, Cejudo, returned to action after a three-year retirement this past April 2023. Unfortunately for the Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, his title bid against current Bantamweight titleholder, Aljamain Sterling, resulted in his defeat via a split decision.
Cejudo, 36, speculated heading back into retirement right after the loss, but ultimately wound up mulling over a fight at UFC 292 on Aug. 19, 2023. The promotion recently announced Cejudo was set to face Marlon “Chito” Vera on the night. However, Cejudo has since revealed he won’t be competing because of an injury to his shoulder and never signed a contract. For the next title challenger, O’Malley, he just can’t see “Triple C” returning now that all of Cejudo’s plans have fallen apart.
“I wonder who ‘Chito’s’ gonna get,” O’Malley said on The TimboSugar Show. “‘Chito’ called out Petr [Yan]. [That] would be sweet. That would have been so sweet. I beat ‘Aljo’ then it would have been ‘Chito’ or Henry in December in Vegas probably, would have been a title defense. That would have been f—king epic.
“I think what actually happened is Dana said, ‘Hey, Henry. Be careful though, you go out there and beat ‘Chito’ you have to fight Sean.’ And I think he said, ‘Oh! My shoulder!’ I think this. Henry’s done for good. He’s done. He’s retired, not coming back. He tried to come back. No one really cared. He got paid a little bit of money.”
Should Cejudo officially ride off into the sunset for good, his last win will have come in May 2020 when he successfully defended the Bantamweight title via second round technical knockout (knee and punches) against Dominick Cruz. O’Malley’s clash with Sterling will headline UFC 292 in Boston, Massachusetts and a win would make him the eighth men’s 135-pound UFC champion.