Former UFC double champion and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo has some strong beliefs about what will happen when bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and his challenger Merab Dvalishvili throw down in the cage at UFC 306.
The former featherweight and bantamweight champion stepped away from his titles after a victory over bantamweight legend Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. At that point in time, Henry Cejudo had all the money that he desired but no time to play with it. When he retired, he mentioned his desire to relax, start a family, and give up the brutal fight game.
However, it was easier said than done, and Cejudo could never fully bring himself to walk away from it. He stayed vocal about MMA’s current events and even fighters’ performances. He wanted back into the mix, and three years later, he would have his chance against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 for the bantamweight title.
Henry Cejudo Plans return to featherweight, doubts Sean O’Malley’s chances against Merab Dvalishvili
Cejudo would not return to MMA after his retirement and score a victory over an active and in-his-prime champion. In fact, Sterling defeated him. Cejudo would go on and lose another battle at UFC 298, this time to Sterling’s close friend and training partner, Merab Dvalishvili.
Now, Dvalishvili is finally getting a long-awaited title shot against Sean O’Malley, and Cejudo is confident that he can walk away as the victor.
“This is my prediction,” Henry Cejudo said during an interview with MMA Junkie reps (H/T BJ Penn.com). “Merab Dvalishvili is going to stop Sean O’Malley at the Sphere. He’s going to beat him. He’s going to either 50-45 him, maybe not 50-45 because he may lose the first two rounds or the first one at least. He’s going to beat him, but once Umar (Nurmagomedov) comes in, he’s just going to have his way with Merab. He really is. Umar is really good, really technical.”
Now hanging in a sort of MMA limbo, Henry Cejudo is an undesirable money fight for many guys. Defeating him doesn’t do much for your resume. Sure, he used to be the double champ, and he’s ‘Triple C’ and all, but that was a long time ago now. Currently, he’s just an aging fighter who fights across two divisions that are notoriously favorable to the younger opponent. A loss to him would be much more traumatic to a fighter’s career than the benefits of defeating him would be, as far as risk and reward is concerned.
“There could be a potential return at flyweight,” Henry Cejudo continued. “These are a lot of things I’m contemplating, potentially going back down. With the bantamweight division getting hot and with the newcomers coming in, there’s been a lot of thought of me going back down and getting a fight with Moreno and winning the belt once again. There’s a lot of cool stuff. These are kind of things I really want to think about and really decide once I get home and once, I’m injury-free. It’s just one little thing, but it’s a major thing. Because I’m going to be making a commitment to go out there and just do another run, do another run at these titles and dedicate myself like I was before.”
“I’m after gold now,” Henry Cejudo affirmed. “I think if I do go down to 125 pounds and stay disciplined, I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat me. Plus, I think there’s a fun fight with Brandon Moreno. He wanted to fight me at 135 and then he backed out like a little b*tch. Now, I think if I go down and I beat him in Mexico, in his own country, I think that could be a big-ass payday too.”
Do you also think that Henry Cejudo goes down to 125lbs just to get smashed by Brandon Moreno or Alexandre Pantoja?