Former UFC champion predicts Sean O'Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili

The former two-weight UFC champion has been competing in the 135-pound division since 2019, but Cejudo is now the underdog after two losses to then-champion Aljamain Sterling and current No. 1 contender and next title challenger Merab Dvalishvili, whom he lost to in February at UFC 298.

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 (Noche UFC) on September 14.

As for his last opponent, Cejudo, 37, has been battling injuries, admitting he wasn't 100% when he returned against Dvalishvili, losing a unanimous decision earlier this year.

“When I fought Merab, I had a groin tear,” said Cejudo Home of the fight. “It was like a third tear on my right side, so I couldn't wrestle. It had nothing to do with Merab's wrestling. It was more that I hadn't wrestled all camp, and now he's bringing in wrestling and that's worn me out. The first round was perfect and brilliant, but even after that first round, I knew I was in trouble… When that round was officially over, I was just like, man, I don't feel good.”

“There are no excuses here,” Cejudo said he added that the risk was worth the reward in fighting Dvalishvili, knowing that the winner would likely fight for the title – as we see with Dvalishvili and O'Malley headlining UFC 306 next month.

Cejudo is the sixth-ranked contender in the bantamweight division and his dreams of becoming a two-time champion are all but dashed, but he hopes to get back on track and earn another title shot.

No one knows who the champion will be then, but Cejudo would like to have a rematch with Dvalishvili for the belt – he believes the Georgian has what it takes to dethrone a formidable sharpshooter like Sean O'Malley. Cejudo doesn't think it will be that easy, though.

“I think Merab, dude. I would want to knock him out,” Cejudo continued. “I think he's going to knock Sean O'Malley out. But I'm saying this, quoting myself: [if] Sean beats him, he beats him early in the first round or early in the second. But as the fight goes on, he's in damn trouble.”

“He's in trouble,” Cejudo said of O'Malley. “He could catch him because Merab got caught the same way I did. I caught him hard. I'm like, 'Damn.' But when I catch people with hooks, they go down. He got caught by Marlon Moraes, he's shaky, his knees are shaking, but he can come back.”

Merab Dvalishvili may have only one win by finish in the UFC – the aforementioned TKO victory over Marlon Moraes – but Henry Cejudo believes that “The Machine” has the potential to stop Sean O'Malley from a distance in the biggest fight of his life.

“If the fight gets longer, I think he could be in a position to maybe even stop O'Malley,” Cejudo noted.

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