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Watch: Henry Cejudo pays homage to his Mexican roots by performing piñata ritual before UFC 288 main-event clash 

This weekend sees the long-awaited return of Henry Cejudo to the octagon. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist is set to headline UFC 288, challenging Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title.

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There can be no doubt that Henry Cejudo has trained like a maniac for this fight. ‘Triple C’ recently shared a video of him involved in hard sparring sessions with his teammates, claiming his practice has been “brutal”.

Now, though, the former UFC flyweight and bantamweight kingpin has gone down a more unique route.

Paying homage to his Mexican roots, Cejudo shared a video on his YouTube channel that shows him smashing a piñata with Sterling’s face attached to it.

The video explains Cejudo’s mindset, as he states the following:

“So in Mexican tradition, during the holidays or birthday celebrations, it is tradition to break a piñata of your favourite movie star or academy award winner...or a fraud! May 6th, you are dead!”

‘Triple C’ looks wide-eyed throughout the video, suggesting that he takes the ritual seriously – despite piñata smashing widely being associated in the US with children’s parties.

Whether or not this ritual helps Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 when he faces off with ‘The Funk Master’ this weekend remains to be seen.


What has UFC 288 headliner Henry Cejudo said about Alexander Volkanovski?

Henry Cejudo might have his hands full with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 this weekend, but ‘Triple C’ is already seemingly setting his sights higher.

In a recent rant posted to YouTube, Cejudo claimed that after he defeats Sterling this weekend, he will look to defeat top-ranked contender Sean O’Malley afterwards.

Cejudo then stated that after getting past Sterling and ‘Sugar’, he’d be coming after UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

“Once I get done with you two tune-ups (Sterling and O’Malley), I’m going after Alexander ‘The Average’...I am the ‘Triple C’, I’m looking to become ‘C4’. I know you respect me, Alexander Volkanovski, but when that time comes, you will see a different version of myself. Continue to keep babysitting that belt because that belt will be mine.”

Cejudo is already one of just four fighters to claim two UFC titles simultaneously, having held the flyweight and bantamweight titles in 2019 before relinquishing his 135lbs crown in 2020.

Volkanovski, on the other hand, is set to defend his featherweight title against interim champion Yair Rodriguez in July.

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