Sean O’Malley shares theory on why Henry Cejudo actually retired from MMA

UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley shared his theory as to why former champion Henry Cejudo recently retired after UFC 249.

Cejudo surprised the MMA community when he vacated the UFC bantamweight title following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. Cejudo was arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and so him hanging up his gloves surprised many fans, media, and fighters. O’Malley, however, was not surprised.

Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto following UFC 249, O’Malley gave his theory as to why Cejudo decided to step away from the sport.

Video: Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) talks about why he never looks too overjoyed with wins, what he'd like in his next contract negotiation, and why he thinks Henry Cejudo really retired … https://t.co/eLglEQD3Jx

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 7, 2020

“I think I have the reason that he retired. I don’t know that for sure, but that’s just what I heard,” O’Malley said.

“I feel like I’m a bad matchup for anyone in the division. I’m almost six-feet tall and I’m pretty skinny but I’m long. I was probably 150-something in the cage. I’m fast, I’m strong, I’m high-level everywhere. I don’t know if I’m disappointed that he retired. I don’t know if I’m on top, in my peak, I don’t know if I could retire. I almost feel like I’d rather lose than just retire then say, ‘I’m in the best in the world, I’m done.’ I don’t know, who knows. I think he’ll be back. I think he just found his first girlfriend and he’s just kind of, he doesn’t know what to do. Because if you’ve never had a girlfriend before and then you have one and you’re like 30-something, I don’t know, they like, take over.”

It’s certainly an interesting theory posed here by O’Malley, and if Cejudo sees these comments, it will be intriguing to see how he responds to O’Malley after he brought up his girlfriend as a potential reason for his retirement.

Do you think Sean O’Malley has the correct theory as to why Henry Cejudo retired?