Sean O’Malley: ‘I thought Henry Cejudo won’

bantamweight champion aljamen sterling The former two-division champion retained his title on Saturday with a split decision in the UFC 288 main event henry cejudobut top contenders Sean O’Malley Haven’t seen it that way.

O’Malley had cage side seats for the fight. He was guaranteed the next title shot against the winner. When the scorecards were read, O’Malley expected Cejudo’s name to be read as the winner.

“I thought Henry was up 3-1 going into the fifth. I was really surprised that Elzo won it. I thought Henry did what he should have done. We’re in New York. We’re in New Jersey.” I am in, I mean,” O’Malley said during the UFC 288 post-fight press conference.

“I thought he won. I thought Henry looked good. I didn’t think he was going to come into this fight not in shape, not ready to go. He came in, he was ready to go . I thought he won the fight,” O’Malley continued.

O’Malley admitted that he wanted Cejudo to win the fight and thought “Triple-C” was a better stylistic matchup for him.

“I wanted the fight to be really bad. I’d love to put that guy to sleep,” O’Malley said. “I thought Henry was a better stylistic matchup, but I also really want to slap that little dude. So it would have been a win-win for me, but here we are.”

Aljamene Sterling and Sean O’Malley almost collided in the Octagon at UFC 288