Being an analyst of the fight game means that you don’t always get to be positive about every fighter and that can come with some complications.
Via their podcast together, Pound 4 Pound, former UFC champions Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman break down the biggest fights in combat sports.
They both try to be honest and that means hurting some feelings along the way if people end up hearing their criticisms.
Whilst some fighters may take a private dislike to others for the things they hear them say during pre or post-fight comments, there are others that have no problem making the analyst aware of this.
Cejudo returned from the Paris Olympics on the most recent episode where he told a story about being confronted by one of the most intimidating men on the UFC roster.
Henry Cejudo Describes Paris Confrontation With Khamzat Chimaev
After giving Usman several guesses at who had wanted to fight him in Paris by telling “The Nigerian Nightmare” that it was a wrestler that he has shared the Octagon with, Cejudo eventually revealed that it was Khamzat Chimaev who had a problem with him.
Cejudo said that whilst he never found out from the middleweight contender himself, he expects that Chimaev’s issue with him stems from comments he has made in the past about his ability as a fighter.
“Oh f***, I don’t know dude. I think these dudes take s*** so personable dude, I don’t know. I think obviously me cheering for you, me cheering for ‘Borrachinha’, me kind of telling the truth a little bit because I think as an analyst, people get a little, you have to tell the truth and I think that’s my biggest, I think that’s what, yeah I am comical and whatnot but typically when I do say certain things, it’s because I mean it.”
Cejudo then went on to explain what actually happened between them, which essentially boiled down to Chimaev scolding him from far away whilst being surrounded by an entourage.
“So that’s why I think but I was here, he was at the ticket line, I was outside trying to get my damn tickets because everything was sold out and I don’t even think he could get in either and then he sees me and he says like, ‘Henry Cejudo, you’re a rat piece of s***’. I kind of had a feeling this dude kind of had a, because he’s blocking from a lot of social media stuff. So then I’m just like, ‘Why? Why am I a piece of s***?’ And he said I’m just a piece of s***, like this is probably like 50-feet away like from each other.”
“Triple C” rounded out his thoughts on the matter by stating that Chimaev’s response to criticism could be an issue for him in his career progression based on the somewhat difficult position that he has found himself in as of late.
“I’m a troll 100% but to the level of trolling that I do, I’m a level of extreme even more so as a competitor. Something like this could really hurt Khamzat in the sense of him being truly emotional because how many fights has he pulled out of and how many fans and trolls you think are trolling him and how upset could you get? And the last thing you want to do is actually fight emotional.”
Continue Reading Henry Cejudo Reveals Criticism Led To Verbal Altercation With Khamzat Chimaev: ‘Something Like This Could Really Hurt Khamzat…’ at MMA News.