"He beats him just based on endurance" - Henry Cejudo makes bold prediction for upcoming title fight between Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera

UFC boss Dana White recently announced three big title fights to kick off the new year. Sean Strickland will take on Dricus Du Plessis in January, Alexander Volkanovski is set to face Ilia Topuria in February, and the Sean O'Malley vs. 'Chito' Vera rematch will go down in March.

Henry Cejudo took to his official YouTube channel to react to the news. Given his position in the bantamweight division, where he is arguably just a win away from another title shot, Cejudo placed particular emphasis on the O'Malley-Vera rematch.

Speaking on the Sean O'Malley vs. 'Chito' Vera rematch, Cejudo predicted that Vera would get the better of 'Suga' by virtue of his grit, endurance and toughness. He said:

"Chito Vera beats him. Chito Vera beats him just based on endurance. There's another problematic thing that Sean is not accustomed to is taller guys. When I saw, it's not like Chito is a giant either, but he's like five eight, five nine. Sean O'Malley is five eleven. I mean, when you start getting people in the same height, and they fought before, and one of them, he's already seen him in the eyes, he's seen him literally break, he can take him there again."

He also went on to add that 'Chito' should "up his defence" and that there's a "lot more" that Vera could do to O'Malley than vice-versa.

Check out the clip here (8:39 for Cejudo's comments):

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Sean O'Malley vows to become "biggest name in sports" in 2024

Sean O'Malley has made his intentions for 2024 extremely clear. He took to X (formerly Twitter), and wrote:

"End of 2024 I’ll be the biggest name in sports. Comment something negative if you agree"

He will begin the year by looking to avenge his only loss, which came at the hands of Marlon 'Chito' Vera back in 2020. The two will face off in March, with O'Malley's bantamweight strap on the line.

There has also been talk of O'Malley pursuing a boxing fight. In his post-fight press conference after dethroning Aljamain Sterling, he called out Gervonta 'Tank' Davis for a boxing match. There have also been rumors of a potential showdown in the squared circle with Devin Haney.

While these boxing fights do appear unlikely at the time of writing, one thing is certainly clear - Sean O'Malley has big plans for 2024.