Sean O’Malley challenged to ‘King of Arizona’ bout by Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo

Former UFC champion, Henry Cejudo offers fight to Sean O'Malley who lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306.

Sean O’Malley challenged to ‘King of Arizona’ bout by Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo

Henry Cejudo ready to fight Sean O'Malley (Image via Imago)

Sean O’Malley is no longer the reigning  UFC bantamweight champion. As such, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo has offered to help Sean O’Malley redeem himself after his devastating UFC 306 loss to Merab Dvalishvili. However, Cejudo’s condition is that O’Malley must face him in a fight. Here is what happened:

Henry Cejudo recently sat down for a conversation on ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast with fellow former champion Kamaru Usman. Cejudo extended this offer to Sean O’Malley during this conversation stating that a bout between them could settle their rivalry. Cejudo has been critical of O’Malley, particularly after predicting O’Malley’s defeat to Dvalishvili.

I think moving forward is if Sean O’Malley is willing and wants to fight this troll, who’s the true king of Arizona, well then here I am. But if not Kush, I’m making my way back down to 125 pounds man because I’m not gonna waste my time.
Henry Cejudo on Pound 4 Pound
YouTube video

‘Triple C’ highlighted ‘Suga’s struggles against wrestlers like Dvalishvili, pointing out that his lack of stamina and wrestling skills were major contributors to his loss. Cejudo believes O’Malley’s striking-heavy style makes him vulnerable to fighters like Dvalishvili, who mix grappling with striking to wear down opponents over extended fights.

FS Video

The Olympic wrestler himself faced Dvalishvili earlier in the year and performed significantly better, even knocking down Dvalishvili in their fight. This has boosted his confidence in facing O’Malley.

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Cejudo expressed that if O’Malley is willing to take the challenge, he is ready to fight and prove who is the better fighter. The former champion has struggled since his return from retirement in 2023. Whether O’Malley will accept the challenge remains to be seen, especially since he is rumored to be taking an extended break from the sport.

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Sean O’Malley’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 overturned!

The recent buzz around Sean O’Malley’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 has taken an amusing turn. After losing his bantamweight title in a dominant performance by Dvalishvili, O’Malley humorously declared that his self-created “Suga State Athletic Commission” had overturned the result.

Sean O'Malley declares he is still undefeated
Sean O’Malley declares he is still undefeated (Image via Imago)

In a light-hearted tweet, he joked that he won two of the last three rounds and that the fight had been overturned in his favor. This is part of O’Malley’s ongoing playful persona, as he often refers to himself as “undefeated” despite official losses, including an earlier one to Marlon Vera.

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The post was clearly a joke, but it drew both laughs and some trolling from fans online. While O’Malley is taking the loss with humor, he has also announced that he will be stepping away from the sport for a while to recover from injuries, particularly a torn labrum.