“People are finally getting to see what I’ve known about Johny for more than a decade: his pathetic excuses… You were 26 frickin’ pounds over on [the] Monday [before the fight]. What in the world does deer meat have to do with it? … For me, it was terrible to see Tyron robbed of an opportunity to show what he has because fighters only get to fight two or three times a year, so when you have one of those opportunities essentially stolen from you, that’s a hard thing to deal with.”
-Serial antagonist Ben Askren talks to MMAJunkie.com and reacts to Johny Hendricks’ explanation (such as it was) for why his body shut down during his weight cut into a scheduled UFC 192 bout with Tyron Woodley.
Penick’s Analysis: It remains a shame that Askren is fighting in ONE and not in the UFC. He’s a great foil verbally, and extremely talented in the cage, and his skills are being wasted against lesser competition. Now, he’s getting paid quite well to beat up said competition, and he knows the situation as it stands, but that’s also on the UFC for not recognizing and respecting him as a fighter at this point. As to his continued comments towards Hendricks, he’s got all the fuel he’ll ever need at this point, and is completely justified in ripping the former champion. It’s a rippable offense, and the type of thing that is unacceptable from a former champion in any division.
Hendricks does honestly need to seriously cut back on the Little Ceaser’s/BBQ/deer meat/beer/whatever he binges on in-between fight camps. That’s really no excuse to be so heavy, considering he should be burning tons of calories anyway during fight camp.