Sean O'Malley sees Henry Cejudo rebounding vs. Marlon Vera at UFC 292.
Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will look to get back to the win column after losing a close decision to bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in May. He meets Vera (22-8-1 MMA, 14-7 UFC) at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston.
Vera, who handed O’Malley the lone loss of his career, is coming off a split decision setback to Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ESPN 43. Vera was taken down three times by Sandhagen, and O’Malley expects Olympic gold medalist wrestler Cejudo to have a major advantage in the grappling area.
“If ‘Chito’ comes out and fights like he fought against Cory – and is this a three-round fight? ‘Chito’ usually comes on tougher in the later rounds,” O’Malley said on “The BrOMalley Show” on his YouTube channel. “Henry looked good against Aljo. He didn’t gas. It’s not like Henry’s gonna go out there and gas against ‘Chito.’
“Frankie Edgar took ‘Chito’ down and laid on him, ended up getting finished late in the third round obviously. But he was able to take him down, and control his hips, and not let him really do much from there. If I had to guess right now, early prediction, I think Henry gets the job done.”
Headlining UFC 292 will be O’Malley, who challenges bantamweight champion Sterling. Since losing to Vera by TKO in August 2020, “The Suga Show” went on a five-fight unbeaten run, most recently edging out former champion Petr Yan last October at UFC 280.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
