("What has two thumbs, wears a red jersey and has an insatiable hunger for Hot Pockets right now?" PicProps: Ultimate Fighter.com)
Not to get sidetracked by the psychology of it all, but clearly a certain amount of success in athletics must be based on not thinking about it too much. Hence, the stunning percentage of dumb guys who are also professional athletes. Now, we’re not trying to say that Cody McKenzie is dumb, per se, only that he sure doesn’t appear to over think things. In fact, perhaps that blind confidence – coupled with a freaky guillotine — is his greatest strength as a fighter. There’s something about McKenzie’s particular blend of boundless enthusiasm and wanton hubris that we find incredibly endearing. His surprising run on “TUF 12,” during which he performed the MMA equivalent of continually poking a sleeping grizzly bear with a stick by talking an endless stream of shit to Josh Koscheck, was enough to win our hearts. His choke-out of Aaron Wilkinson at the show’s live finale? Well, that was just hilarious.
From the outside looking in, it appears the UFC may be just as bemused by McKenzie as we are, perhaps vowing to just keep giving him fights in rapid succession until somebody beats him. That – paired with the fact the kid just doesn’t seem know any better – would explain why the company is moving him straight from his victory over Wilkinson earlier this month into a short-notice fight with Yves Edwards on Jan. 22. It would also explain why he’s prone to say stuff like this: “I’d love to be able to cut down to 145 and fight (Jose) Aldo,” McKenzie told MMA Junkie this week. “I respect the guy, but I think that would be a war.”
Yeah, no. Clearly a complete inability to conceptualize your own limitations can only take you so far.
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