("No, *you’re* No. 1!" PicProps: Sherdog)
Here’s one thing we bet you didn’t see coming at Thursday’s Strikeforce press conference: Former lightweight champion Josh Thomson took some time out of his busy schedule getting ready to fight Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante on Saturday to kick a little sand in the totally undeserving face of WEC champ Ben Henderson.
"I think it’s a joke that you guys have guys like Ben Henderson ranked above guys like JZ," Thomson said. "You guys got to be freaking kidding me. This kid (JZ) is a beast. The guy’s a great fighter … Are you kidding me? Really? You guys have a guy named Ben Henderson ranked above this guy? You guys are out of your mind. This guy’s a savage.”
OK first, it’s great that Thomson and Cavalcante respect each other and all that. Second, let’s be clear about our semantics here, Thomson appears to be calling out the mavens of various MMA rankings, not Henderson himself. Still, if you’ve got beef with the rankings, why mention Bendo at all? For a vet like Thomson to take a shot at an up-and-comer like Henderson feels weird and frankly, a little unseemly.