Ray Longo had hoped that the video of Henry Cejudo parting ways with his coach was a staged skit. Ray Longo shares his thoughts on Henry Cejudo’s mock firing incident before UFC 298. He is reserving judgment on the bantamweight fighter’s decision to part ways with his longtime coach. However, he does not necessarily agree with it. Prior to UFC 298, Cejudo fired his coach on the UFC’s “Countdown” preview show, which gained a lot of attention from MMA fans. During the show, Dvalishvili made a playful gesture towards the coach after the controversial firing was captured on camera.
‘Triple C’ later revealed that he and his coach had fooled the MMA community with the fake firing on UFC Countdown. However, before news of the prank was revealed, the opposing team’s head coach had something to say about it. Ray Longo appeared on the ‘Anik & Florian Podcast’ Ep#466, where he discussed the incident.
The reason why Cejudo fired his trainer right before UFC 298 remains unanswered. Observant fans are already aware that featherweight champion, , criticized the practice of making “content” out of firing a coach as a disrespectful move. Cejudo, along with Merab Dvalishvili, will be fighting on the main card of UFC 298 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The Australian fighter will be headlining the event.
Later, even joined in, followed by Dvalishvili’s head coach. Ray Longo believes that it is inappropriate to make content out of a coach who has been with Cejudo since he won the wrestling gold at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. He considers it a narcissistic move to seek attention.
Henry Cejudo is just hours away from his return to the Octagon at UFC 298 against Merab Dvalishvili at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Despite his recent loss at UFC 288, Cejudo is looking to bounce back. In the lead-up to the fight, he and his coach Eric Albarracin decided to pull off a prank on the MMA community.
Coach Ray Longo, who is cornering Merab Dvalishvili’s camp, strongly criticized this prank, calling it narcissistic. Given Cejudo’s belief that he is nearing the end of his career, it may have been a strategic move on his part. He even hinted at retirement during the pre-fight press conference for UFC 298’s Fight Week.
During the same interview, Ray Longo also commented on the friendship between Sterling and Dvalishvili. Dana White, the promotional taskmaster, had criticized the bantamweight pair for avoiding facing each other. Ray Longo responds to White’s comments, stating that it is not a problem unless they want to make it one. He also mentions that Aljo encouraged Merab to go for the belt.
With Sterling moving up to the 145-pound division soon, Dvalishvili has the opportunity to compete. He had refrained from pursuing the title in case Aljamain Sterling wanted a rematch after UFC 292.
However, Ray Longo now believes that the UFC is making the situation more complicated than it needs to be. With Sterling out of the title picture, Dvalishvili has a chance to climb to the top. Eventually, he will be aiming for the well-deserved top spot, just like Henry Cejudo.
According to the Source firstsportz.com