Henry Cejudo appeared to ruthlessly fire his long-time head coach Eric Albarracin during the UFC 298 Countdown show earlier this week ahead of his bantamweight title elimination fight against Merab Dvalishvili, but after a major backlash from fans and fellow MMA fighters alike, the former double champ has now claimed it was all just a prank.
“Bill Belichick, Tom Brady. Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan. Come on, do you think they would ever break up? Come on, man,” Albarracin told onlookers alongside Cejudo at the fighter hotel ahead of Saturday night’s event.
“Just so you guys know, this is the greatest combat coach of all time,” Cejudo said. “This is an unbreakable bond.”
“Let’s go, UFC 298, we’re taking over,” Albarracin said. “I’m going to be sitting, drinking Team Secret Juice, [in the] front row, watching Cejudo take out Merab Dvalishvili, and stamp another title shot, become C4 [win four UFC titles].”
“Got ‘em!” Cejudo exclaimed.
However, it remains to be seen if Abarracin will be front row because he’s still part of Cejudo’s corner for the fight, or if he’ll just be cheering him on from the sidelines.
Whether it was all just a joke or not, Cejudo clearly has a serious task at hand on Saturday night as he’s suggested that he may well retire again on Saturday night if he can’t get past Dvalishvili, who is currently on a nine-fight winning streak.
