Sean O’Malley Shares Prediction For UFC 288 Bantamweight Title Fight Between Aljamain Sterling & Henry Cejudo

O'Malley is expected to face the winner later this year.

Sean O Malley
Image Credit: Sean O Malley's Instagram

Sean O’Malley has given his final prediction for the UFC 288 main event between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight title.

Sterling is looking to defend his title for the third time while Cejudo is coming out of retirement to try and reclaim the title he never lost in the Octagon. It’s an intriguing matchup and the winner is expected to face O’Malley, so ‘Suga’ will be paying close attention to it.

Although O’Malley is confident he beats both of them, he thinks the fight will be competitive but he leans towards Cejudo getting it done by decision or late finish.

‘Henry gets the job done’

“I’m gonna say I think Henry gets the job done,” O’Malley said on The Bro’Malley Show (h/t MMAFighting). “[The run-in] was kinda awkward. I get it. They’re just like, ‘Hey, we’re fighting. You know what I’m saying? Crushing another man’s dreams.’ I think Henry’s going to out-pace ‘Aljo.’ I think Aljo’s cutting too much weight. I think Henry is going to get the decision or get the job done in the later rounds. I’m calling it right now. They both said they want me.”

Part of the reason why Sean O’Malley thinks Henry Cejudo wins is due to the fact Aljamain Sterling admitted he had a bicep injury which is why it was delayed a few months. O’Malley doesn’t think that bodes well for Sterling in the long run as he wonders if the champ is still injured.

“I was saying Aljo could take his back, I was saying Henry could do this … and I really — it’s in New Jersey,” O’Malley said. “It’s kind of hometown for Aljo. He did say, ‘Yeah, I wish I did get the surgery. My bicep does f****** hurt, I’m not gonna lie.’ I was like wow, that’s interesting to kind of come out and say. So, I know he’s probably dealing with that. But it looked like if you watched his footage it doesn’t look like he’s babying it too much. It doesn’t look that bad, but for him to acknowledge that it must be somewhat kinda bad. Henry looks like he had a good camp. I know he had that big cut on his face so he must have forgot how to box. It’s weird. The greatest combat sports athlete of all — he even invented play fighting. He said that. He literally said that. Shadow sparring. And the funniest thing is his little ass probably believes it.”

Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo goes down on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey in the main event of UFC 288.

Published on May 4, 2023 at 11:19 am
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