Henry Cejudo calls out Sean O'Malley for a potential interim title fight on the the UFC Perth card.

Henry Cejudo, a former two-division UFC champion, hopes to challenge 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley for the interim UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 284 on February 12, 2023, at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Cejudo seemed to be mocking current UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, with the suggestion of an "interim title." At UFC 280 earlier this month, Sterling defeated T.J. Dillashaw via second-round TKO to successfully defend his title.

Aljamain Sterling, the UFC bantamweight champion, asserted that it is too soon for him to resume competition after his championship defense against Dillashaw. Instead, he plans to return in the middle of 2023. Thus, Henry Cejudo desires Sean O'Malley to come next.

Sean O'Malley, who defeated former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280, is now the top-ranked bantamweight in the promotion. After the incident, "Triple C" issued a title bout challenge to Aljamain Sterling. Sterling rejected Cejudo's challenge and indicated that he would like to take on O'Malley. Not to be outdone, Cejudo continued to fire shots at the "Funk Master" while simultaneously focusing on O'Malley.

In their first bantamweight title fight in March 2021, Aljamain Sterling defeated Petr Yan via DQ (Disqualification), according to Henry Cejudo, who has repeatedly accused Sterling of acting and faking an injury. On that basis, Henry Cejudo now seems to have equated the character "Funk Master" to actor Denzel Washington from Hollywood.

Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has already finished his six-month stint in the USADA program and is hungry to reclaim the bantamweight championship he has never dropped. Therefore, Cejudo wants current No. 1 ranked bantamweight challenger O'Malley to compete for the interim title at UFC 284 in Perth if Sterling decides to take a break. Cejudo pleaded his desire with UFC president Dana White via Twitter to schedule a match between Sean O'Malley and himself Cejudo at UFC 284.

In their May 2020 UFC bantamweight title showdown, Dominick Cruz was defeated by Henry Cejudo via second-round TKO. In the post-fight interview, Cejudo later made his retirement announcement. Sean O’Malley and Cejudo have been seen before exchanging words.

After Sean O'Malley's match against Pedro Munhoz in July of this year, Cejudo confronted him backstage. O'Malley discussed the event in an episode of the Timbo Sugarshow podcast and implied that Cejudo frequently singles out certain competitors just to get attention. According to "Sugar," Cejudo decided to return to the octagon to resolve his financial problems.

"I think he retired, wanted more money from the UFC, and the UFC's like, 'Alright.' Then he's calling everyone out. He's coming back. I think he's running out of money. Because he retired, he wanted more money."