Former UFC champion predicts Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili fight

The former two-division UFC champion has been part of the title conversation at 135 pounds since 2019, but now Cejudo finds himself on the sidelines following two losses to then-champion Aljamain Sterling and current #1 contender and upcoming title challenger Merab Dvalishvili, losing to him at UFC 298 in February.

Dvalishvili’s victory over Cejudo, his third consecutive former champion, secured him a title shot against UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306 (UFC Night) on Sept. 14.

As for his last opponent, injuries caught up with the 37-year-old Cejudo, who revealed he was not 100% when he returned against Dvalishvili and dropped a unanimous decision earlier this year.

“When I fought Merab, I did it with a torn groin,” Cejudo said. Home of the struggle“It was like a tear in my right side, like in the third round, so I couldn’t wrestle. It had nothing to do with Merab wrestling. It was more the fact that I didn’t wrestle the whole camp, and now he’s bringing the wrestling and that wore me out. The first round was perfect and brilliant, but even after that first round, I knew I was in trouble… Once that round was officially over, I was like, man, I don’t feel good.”

“There are no excuses here” Cejudo said, adding that the risk was worth it in a fight against Dvalishvili, knowing the winner would likely fight for the title, as we’re seeing with Dvalishvili and O’Malley headlining UFC 306 next month.

As the No. 6 contender in the bantamweight division, Cejudo’s dreams of becoming a two-time champion are all but dashed, but he hopes to get back on track and earn another title shot in his career.

No one knows who will be the champion by then, but Cejudo would like to face Dvalishvili for the belt, as he believes the Georgian has what it takes to dethrone a sharpshooter as impactful as Sean O’Malley. However, Cejudo doesn’t think it will be that easy.

“I think Merab, man. That’s the one I’d like to beat,” Cejudo continued. “I think he’s going to beat Sean O’Malley. But I’ll say this, and I’ll quote myself: (if) Sean beats him, he’ll do it early in the first round or early in the second. But as the fight goes on, he’s going to be in serious trouble.”

“He’s in trouble,” Cejudo said of O’Malley. “I could catch him because Merab has been caught like I have. I’ve caught him hard. I’m just like, ‘Damn.’ But if I catch people with hooks, they go down. Marlon Moraes has caught him, he’s wobbly, his knees are shaking, but he’s able to recover.”

While Merab Dvalishvili only has one UFC win to his name (the aforementioned TKO victory over Marlon Moraes), Henry Cejudo believes “The Machine” has the potential to stop Sean O’Malley at the distance in the biggest fight of his life.

“As the fight goes on, as it goes on, I think he could be in a position to even stop O’Malley,” Cejudo said.

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