Henry Cejudo predicts Sean O'Malley's title reign will end at UFC 306

When the UFC 306 main event concludes on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes UFC CEO Dana White will be putting the belt around the waist of a new champion.  

UFC 306 is headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion Sean O’Malley (18-1, 1 NC) and top contender Merab Dvalishvili (17-4). 

“This is my prediction,” Cejudo told MMA Junkie. “Merab Dvalishvili is going to stop Sean O’Malley at the Sphere. He’s going to beat him. He’s going to either 50-45 him, maybe not 50-45 because he may lose the first two rounds or the first one at least. He’s going to beat him, but once Umar (Nurmagomedov) comes in, he’s just going to have his way with Merab. He really is. Umar is really good, really technical.”  

O’Malley captured the 135-pound title by defeating Dvalishvili’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023.  He successfully defended the belt at UFC 299 in March, avenging a previous loss to Marlon Vera in one-sided fashion. Dvalishvili is riding a 10-fight winning streak and has been the top contender in the division for some time but would not fight his training partner, Sterling.  “The Machine” hasn’t lost a fight since April 2018.