‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley claims Aljamain Sterling is ‘getting forced’ into facing Henry Cejudo: “It is Aljo not taking the fight.”

Top-ranked UFC bantamweight ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley claims that there is a holdup at the top of the division with ‘Funkmaster’ Aljamain Sterling not accepting a match against Henry Cejudo.

Olympian Henry Cejudo was once a two-division UFC champion who held impressive wins over Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, and Dominick Cruz. He retired in 2020 vacating both titles.

Recently, it sounded as though Cejudo would be coming back for a fight in the octagon against the current reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. However, according to Sean O’Malley, the fight is still in flux.

Sean O’Malley says Henry Cejudo vs Aljamain Sterling is not official yet

‘Sugar‘ discussed the matter alongside fellow MMA fighter Tim Welch on their podcast ‘TimboSugarShow.’ According to the US-born Sean O’Malley for Cejudo’s part, the ink is dry. O’Malley explained:

“Henry is going out there and said ‘hey it’s a done deal on my part, whenever, February, March, whenever.’ So it is Aljo not taking the fight.”

Sean O’Malley believes that the holdup has to do with the reigning champion Aljamain Sterling and his mental stability. ‘Sugar’ explained:

“We’ve talked about it so many times. I don’t think it’s money. I think it’s literally he doesn’t want to get into camp … If I was in a mindset where I was like I don’t want to go into camp, I’ve been in those mindsets where I’m not mentally ready to go into a f*cking camp. That would suck.”

To add to the stress that may be surrounding Sterling, Sean O’Malley claims that ‘Funkmaster’ does not want the match but is being pushed by the UFC. The bantamweight fighter concluded by saying:

“And he’s getting forced into this fight.”

See the full interview below, discussion begins around 8 minutes.