Initially calling for an August return against the currently injured, Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 292 later this summer, former duel-weight champion, Henry Cejudo has now switched his attention to an interim title fight with incoming title challenger, Sean O’Malley

Cejudo, who snapped a three-year-plus Octagon hiatus earlier this month, headlined UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey against Aljamain Sterling – dropping a close, split decision loss to the defending bantamweight champion.

Suffering just the third professional loss of his gold laden professional career, Cejudo, a former undisputed flyweight and bantamweight champion to boot and an Olympic gold medalist, initially called for a fight with the #1 ranked bantamweight, Dvalishvili in the wake of his loss to the Georgian’s teammate, Sterling.

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Henry Cejudo has offered to fight Sean O’Malley for interim gold at UFC 292

However, despite confirmation that Sterling will headline at the TD Garden in August in a title affair with Montana striker, O’Malley, Cejudo claims the champion is “playing games” – offering to fight the latter in an installed interim title fight instead.

“If Aljamain Sterling is playing this game that he is not ready [for UFC 292], he needs a little more time, let’s make an interim [title] fight between me and Sean O’Malley,” Henry Cejudo said on his Twitter. “It’s a bigger fight – it’s what the UFC wanted initially. It’s the same reason why they brought me out to chase and beat Aljamain Sterling.”

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“And if they believe that Sean O’Malley and myself would be a bigger fight, then why not make it happen?” Henry Cejudo asked. “I wanted Merab (Dvalishvili), and I’m still willing to wait for Merab, but if that fight [Sterling versus O’Malley] with Sean O’Malley happens to open up, I’m 100 percent in, Dana White.”

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In his most recent professional victory, Cejudo, then-bantamweight champion, successfully defended the crown with a second round TKO win over former two-time division kingpin, Dominck Cruz in the co-main event of UFC 249 in May 2020. 

Aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Follow along at @Ross_Markey on Twitter for all the latest news, fight announcements, opinion, and feature pieces.