Henry Cejudo is leaving no stone unturned to revamp his mixed martial arts career.
The former UFC Flyweight and Bantamweight champion shocked the combat sports fandom last year after coming out of retirement following a three years of slumber. However, Triple C’s much awaited comeback in the Octagon didn’t meet the high anticipations as he suffered a split decision loss to the then 135-pound champ, Aljamain Sterling, at UFC 288 in May 2023.
Although the comeback was met with a defeat, the former double champ and Olympics gold medallist is not letting go of his plans of a proper resumption of his career, and in a very striking turn of events, has decided to make a massive change to his team.
Henry Cejudo fires Eric Albarracin ahead of Merab Dvalishvili fight
Ahead of his upcoming bout this Saturday night against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 in Anaheim, Cejudo has fired Eric Albarracin, who had been working with him since his wrestling days, dating before his incursion into MMA.
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The decision was made public during the UFC’s “Countdown” preview show, where Cejudo acknowledged Albarracin’s presence in his fighting career, but adding that he’s part of the coaches that Cejudo plans to get rid of.
“You were with me for my last Olympic trials, and you’ve been there for me, but as of right now, I just want to let you know that for this camp, dude, I’m getting rid of specific coaches – and that’s you included,” Cejudo told Albarracin on the show.
Currently undergoing training for Dvalishvili at the Fight Ready MMA gym in Arizona, Cejudo stated that he’s focused on cropping down his team, to have the complete focus towards UFC 298.
“Sometimes you get too close to somebody and people just get too comfortable. … Right now, what I want to do in this fight camp is keep it strictly business,” he added. [H/T MMA Junkie]
Henry Cejudo removes Coach Eric Albarracin on the latest episode of UFC Countdown: pic.twitter.com/SCAT4iMRxJ
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) February 11, 2024
A clear indication of Cejudo’s seriousness for the Dvalishvili fight is his decision to let go of unnecessary manpower in his team, which even includes Albarracin, someone who has been mentoring Cejudo for years and throughout his MMA career so far indicates that Cejudo is ready to bring about any drastic changes that he deems necessary.
UFC 298 will mark Cejudo’s second bout since him coming out of retirement. Prior to the Sterling fight, Cejudo went into retirement with a six fight win streak, having defeated Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, days before vacating his bantamweight belt.
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