Askren slams Hendricks over “pathetic excuses” with weight-cutting

ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren is always going to speak his mind. As the undefeated champion of ONE with a 14-0 record, Askren shared his thoughts with MMA Junkie on Johny Hendricks missing weight for his fight scheduled against former teammate Tyon Woodley at UFC 192.

“People are finally getting to see what I’ve known about Johny for more than a decade: his pathetic excuses,” Askren said as both of them were wrestling in the NCAA Division I during the same time of their college careers.

“You were 26 frickin’ pounds over on (the) Monday (before the fight),” Askren said. Hendricks went on record and said in an interview that a diet heavy in deer meat didn’t allow him to cut down his weight. Askren puzzled at the excuse said, “What in the world does deer meat have to do with it?”

Hendricks ended up in the hospital with a kidney stone and intestinal blockage, which forced Woodly to be left without a fight. As a fighter, Askren hated to see that happen.

“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,” Askren said.

Askren gets his opportunity to show what he has as a champion fighter on Nov. 14 at ONE Championship 34 where he faces Luis Santos at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.