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Henry Cejudo fired his longtime coach, Eric Albarracin, on the UFC 298 Countdown show. It was cold and calculated and obviously designed to create buzz around Henry’s fight with Merab Dvalishvili. Cejudo’s PPV numbers have never been robust, and Albarracin’s claim last year about the buy rate for the Sterling-Cejudo bout being somewhere in the neighborhood of 700K buys was quickly shot down by Aljamain via a post on X (formerly Twitter):
“I was told yesterday we’d be lucky to break 250k PPV buys and you’re going on air to lie that you know for certain that we made 700,000 buys?! Are you on the bottle this afternoon bro?? Stop the CAP”
Henry Cejudo fires Eric Albarracin on camera
So, here we are, with just days to go until Henry has to face Merab, and the coach that’s been with him since his Olympic days has been dismissed in what looks like a PR stunt. And if this wasn’t, then you have terrible etiquette and questionable loyalty, Mr. Cejudo. You certainly have no respect for the man that helped you with the Olympic trials, and coached you to UFC gold in two different divisions. The words chosen were just as obnoxious as one would expect from the man many refer to as Captain Cringe.
“Well, Cap, I just want to talk to you and the whole team, man. You were with me for my last Olympic trials. You’ve been there for me. But as of right now, I just want to let you know, man, that for this camp, dude, I’m getting rid of specific coaches, man, and that’s you included, dude.” Cejudo would make an attempt to explain himself further, saying that “Sometimes you’re just too close to somebody and people just get too comfortable.”
Putting your longtime coach in the position of having to respond to that bombshell on camera, when he likely wasn’t expecting it, is just foul. With cameras rolling, he had to control his emotions (which were likely all over the place), and make platitudes. Albarracin was classy in an extremely difficult and likely embarrassing situation, though.
“The goal has always been the same, for you to be the greatest combat athlete of all time. For me, that was a dream come true.”
Cejudo tried to soften the image he was projecting, saying that Eric was “the most unselfish human you will ever meet.” Why would you treat him this way, then? Why couldn’t this have happened behind closed doors where the “GOAT coach,” as you called him, could have time to process without cameras rolling, or time to discuss the situation—anything but this disrespectful display to the man that probably looks at you like a brother. And if this was premeditated with Albarracin, my stance still doesn’t change. It was wrong to do this on camera.
Henry, you are 37 years old and you took a few years off. Is it not possible, with your extraordinarily long athletic career, that maybe the edges aren’t as sharp anymore because, oh, I don’t know, you’re aging? You said you don’t like second place, but perhaps second place is your natural fit now that your body is beginning to slow down. I’m certainly not saying you shouldn’t change coaches—by all means, do what you feel is best. I am, however, suggesting that this would have been best kept behind closed doors.
Greg Jackson once told Jon Jones, “Go check on Lyoto, go check on him and get some fans.”
I would urge you to do the same. Go check on Eric. I’m sure this spot was filmed days, if not weeks ago, but with the actual episode just now airing, it’s very likely that your former coach is feeling that rush of emotion all over again. And from the looks of some of the comments, it’d be easy to see why.
Fan reactions to Henry Cejudo firing his coach
When is Henry Cejudo’s next fight?
Henry Cejudo meets Merab Dvalishvili this weekend at UFC 298. The event takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. His bout is fourth from the main event. The main card begins at 10 PM EST. The prelims begin at 8PM EST and the early prelims begin at 6PM EST.