Upgrade VxRail from 7.0.540-28951912 Help

Hi due to circumstances i'm upgrading VxRail past the support deadline.

i am going to upgrade a VxRail this week from 7.0.540-28951912. The options on update screen i have are VxRail 7.0.550-29128963 and VxRail 8.0.361-29253789. 
I have an external vCenter that manages the VxRail environment with the plugin. The vCenter will also be upgraded as well to from 7.0.3.02200 Build 24322018 to 8.0U3. 

option 1:
1) Upgrade VxRail 7.0.540-28951912 to 8.0.361-29253789
2) Upgrade vCenter 7.0.3.02200 Build 24322018 to 8.0U3.

option 2:
1) Upgrade VxRail 7.0.540-28951912 to 7.0.550-29128963 (recommended on screen)
2) Upgrade VxRail 7.0.550-29128963 to 8.0.361-29253789
2) Upgrade vCenter 7.0.3.02200 Build 24322018 to 8.0U3.

I do want to make sure VxRail does not attempt to upgrade the external vCenter in its process.

Any help will be appreciated.