Henry Cejudo claims UFC champion Sean O’Malley is “tailor made” for an opponent like Marlon Vera

By Harry Kettle - September 1, 2023

UFC star Henry Cejudo believes that Sean O’Malley is going to struggle in a potential rematch against Marlon Vera.

Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera

Earlier this month, Sean O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling to become the new UFC bantamweight champion. In doing so, he cemented his status as one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts – and combat sports as a whole. However, as is the nature of MMA, there are already plenty of people looking ahead to what’s next.

RELATED: SEAN O’MALLEY SAYS REMATCH WITH MARLON VERA IS THE “BIGGEST FIGHT” TO MAKE FOR FIRST TITLE DEFENSE: “I THINK IT DOES BIG PAY-PER-VIEWS

One idea is for him to take on Marlon Vera, the only man who has beaten him in the sport. In the eyes of Henry Cejudo, that isn’t going to go well for him.

Cejudo tears into O’Malley

“Let’s get down to Sean O’Malley’s weaknesses,” Cejudo said. “Weakness No. 1, to me, is the durability, his threshold, him looking at the clock, him fighting three-round fights, but yet he’s looking at the clock.

“He’s been fed a lot of tomato cans up to his last two fights, but still … his No. 1 weakness in my eyes is his threshold, his ability to take pain and his ability to have that gas tank to go for five rounds.”

“His strength [Vera], he’s not a quitter,” Cejudo said. “‘Chito’ Vera, he doesn’t have quit in him. He will fight you to the very last round. He has that hope in him that he will somehow catch you with that kick as he caught Frankie Edgar, catch you with that kick as he caught Dominick Cruz. His greatest asset is his durability, his will to go to the very end whether he loses or not, but he’s going.”

“I cannot believe that ‘Chito’ is about to become champion,” Cejudo said. “I really can’t. … The reason why I believe ‘Chito’ Vera is going to beat a guy like Sean O’Malley is because of the endurance and the actual heart.”

“This fight is really tailor-made for somebody like ‘Chito’ Vera,” Cejudo said. “The simple fact that you keep your hands up, you don’t react to a lot of the stuff. You just bring the fight to a guy like that who’s never gone five rounds. At least (Vera has) gone five rounds, at least (Vera has) trained for more five rounds. I could easily see ‘Chito’ Vera by stoppage, maybe within the fourth or fifth round. Mark my words.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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Topics:

Henry Cejudo Marlon Vera Sean O'Malley UFC