‘Triple C‘ is back, and he’s about to take on Merab Dvalishvilli at UFC 298. While Henry Cejudo certainly made his mark when he returned to the cage to fight then-reigning bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, it was his recent video that may have taken the limelight.

A few days ago, a video of Henry Cejudo going ahead and firing his coach went viral. Head coach, Eric Albarracin, has been with him for years, so when ‘Triple C’ decided to fire him on camera, fans were a little shaken. About 24 hours ago, on the 14th of February, the two reported it was a prank. But was it?

The timeline of the Henry Cejudo prank

So Henry Cejudo fired Albarracin on camera, attracting much backlash. Then, his bout against Dvalishvilli had already been booked, and the coach had other big priorities on his mind. According to Albarracin, that ‘firing’ video was shot in December.

He recently appeared on a new edition of The MMA Hour Show, where Ariel Helwani asked him the details of the firing. Albarracin told him how it was all real, and the only loose end here was the time he was fired. It would appear that Henry Cejudo may not have had help from Albarracin during camp after all because he was fired off early.

“Bro, I’m joking; that sh*t was real.” The head coach said, almost jokingly admitting that it was a prank, “That was real. That was real. That’s the thing nobody understands when that was shot, so that was shot in early December. . . My focus was Paulo (Costa) and Patricio (Pitbull). You know, like Henry says, it’s business; this is a business. . . Well, Henry’s not the champ now; Patricio is the champ, and he’s fighting PFL, so that would have been priority.”

Coach Albarracin and Henry Cejudo are still very close to one another as the two appeared on video together claiming that their bond is ultimately, unbreakable. And the two seem rather ready for UFC 298. All the while the head coach has other liabilities at hand like training Pitbull and Costa.

Will Paulo Costa pull out again?

Paulo Costa has had an interesting streak of pull-outs in recent history. Most memorably, he pulled out of his much-touted UFC 294 bout against Khamzat Chimaev. Before that, he’s pulled out of other big fights such as Robert Whittaker, Ikram Aliskerov, and Luke Rockhold.

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This time, the Rockhold fight is meant to be a rematch between the two since Costa won the first one. But that was back in August 2022. Will ‘Borrachinha’ remain healthy this time around? The last time he was in camp, he injured his elbow badly enough and then ended up getting an infection.

Now, he’s scheduled to face Whittaker once again at UFC 298. He’s been working with Coach Albarracin, whom Henry Cejudo later claimed was the best MMA coach out there. Will that be enough for Costa to come through with a win over Whittaker? Let us know your thoughts.

Also Read: Henry Cejudo Coach: Why Was Eric Albaraccin Removed by the Ex-UFC Double Champ Before UFC 298