O’Malley says you can’t count Cejudo out against Volkanovski

Sean O’Malley speaks to reporters at the UFC 222 Ultimate Media Day on March 1, 2018. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Sean O’Malley shares his thoughts on a potential featherweight matchup be…


UFC 222: Ultimate Media Day
Sean O’Malley speaks to reporters at the UFC 222 Ultimate Media Day on March 1, 2018. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Sean O’Malley shares his thoughts on a potential featherweight matchup between Henry Cejudo and Alexander Volkanovski.

Henry Cejudo is coming out of retirement for a crack at the featherweight title, but does ‘Triple C’ stand a chance against divisional champ Alexander Volkanovski?

UFC fan favorite Sean O’Malley certainly seems to think so, with ‘Suga’ reminding everyone that Henry Cejudo was, and perhaps still is, one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

O’Malley, who competes at bantamweight, was asked for his thoughts on the matchup after Cejudo called out Volkanovski on Twitter earlier this week.

“That’s a super interesting fight,” O’Malley told MMA reporter Helen Yee (h/t BJPenn.com) “Both dudes, shorter guys, stalky. It’s a super, super interesting fight. You can’t count Henry out, he’s done the things he’s done, he’s a super good competitor. You just can’t really count him out but I don’t know if I see him going in there and taking out Volkanovski.”

“Volkanovski has got to be up there, pound for pound top 3 right now, top 2 maybe even,” O’Malley added. “He’s super active and has beaten the top, top guys, Max, Zombie, Ortega. Henry has got a completely different style than all of those guys, similar style to Volkanovski.

Yea, it’s an interesting fight – will the UFC make it?”

Cejudo hasn’t fought since May 2020 when he defeated Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 to retain his bantamweight title. The Olympic gold medalist recently re-entered USADA’s drug-testing pool, however, which indicates that he might be preparing for a return to competition. Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz believes ‘The Messenger’ is destined to become the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion.

“Henry will focus on his fight and training. He never stopped training. I truly believe Henry can come back to win the 135 [bantamweight] title and go up to 145 [featherweight] and win that. He will be the only fighter in UFC history to win three world titles.”