Sean O’Malley Prefers Chito Vera Rematch For Interim Title, Says Henry Cejudo Is ‘Not A Draw’

'Suga' talks the landscape of the bantamweight division.

Suga Chito
(via @sugasean, @chitoveraufc - Instagram)

Sean O’Malley has a sense of who’d he like to fight in his return. 

‘Suga’ is now the #1 bantamweight contender after beating Petr Yan at UFC 280. Following the monumental win, O’Malley is closer to the title than ever. However, it might be a while until we see him fight for the title as current champ Aljamain Sterling is on the sidelines until the summer.

‘The Chito Rematch Is Looming’

That should be no problem for O’Malley though, who is open to fighting fellow contender Chito Vera in a rematch for the ages. 

“Aljo’s saying he doesn’t want to fight till June, July. Me being the #1 contender, I might be wanting to fight in March. There’s guys deserving of big fights in the division right now. The Chito rematch is looming,” O’Malley said on his podcast. “I know that one’s getting closer and closer and that is a massive fight.

“Hopefully I’ll talk to the UFC here in the next week or so. I think once I sit down, talk to the UFC, the division will have a lot more answers moving forward.”

Interim Title? It’s A Possibility.

Since we won’t see Sterling for a solid minute, O’Malley likes the idea of an interim title being created in the meantime. Henry Cejudo has already campaigned to fight ‘Suga’ for that strap but the 28 year-old thinks Vera would be a bigger and better option than the 5’4 former champion. 

“That’s a possibility,” O’Malley said of an interim title. “It’s a possibility and I don’t see why not. I mean it’s not like Aljo’s losing the belt. Me vs. Chito is a lot bigger than me vs. Henry [Cejudo]. Henry has— it’s weird, [having] all the accolades he has and he’s not a draw. And that’s the reason he left. He wasn’t getting paid what he deserves. So, he thought he would leave and The UFC would want him back and they didn’t. He kind of shot himself in the foot. 

“But yeah, me vs. Chito is a bigger fight. Me vs. Cory Sandhagen is a bigger fight. Me vs. this coffee cup is a little bit bigger fight. I’m super curious where this division’s gonna go.”

Published on November 7, 2022 at 3:05 pm
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