It came as a shock to some that Henry Cejudo announced his retirement from MMA. However up and coming Sean O’Malley thinks that he knows the real reason behind this announcement.
O’Malley was already one of the UFC’s hottest young prospects, before he competed at UFC 250 over the weekend. However that status only expanded when he scored a viral knockout over Eddie Wineland. It took the 25-year old less than a round to land a hard straight to score the Mark Hunt style walk-off knockout.
Following this massive victory, Sean O’Malley was discussing what was next for him in an interview with ESPN. Here the topic of Henry Cejudo’s surprise retirement and vacating of the title came up. Although Suga’ says he wishes that he could have had the opportunity to fight Cejudo, he thinks he knows why the Olympian retired.
“I think I have the reason that he retired. I don’t know that for sure, but that’s just what I heard,” O’Malley said. “I feel like I’m a bad matchup for anyone in the division. I’m almost six-feet tall and I’m pretty skinny but I’m long. I was probably 150-something in the cage. I’m fast, I’m strong, I’m high-level everywhere. I don’t know if I’m disappointed he retired. If I’m on top, in my peak, I don’t know if I could retire. I almost feel like I’d rather lose than just retire then say, ‘I’m in the best in the world, I’m done.’ I don’t know, who knows.
“I think he’ll be back. I think he just found his first girlfriend and he’s just kind of…he doesn’t know what to do, because when you’ve never had a girlfriend before, and then you have one when you’re like 30-something, I don’t know, they like, take over.”
Video: Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) talks about why he never looks too overjoyed with wins, what he'd like in his next contract negotiation, and why he thinks Henry Cejudo really retired … https://t.co/eLglEQD3Jx
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 7, 2020
Whether or not Sean O’Malley is right about Henry Cejudo retiring because of a change in relationship status is unclear. However there does seem to be a thought that he could eventually return again. Of course, only time will tell.
