A lot has been said about Henri Hooft following last weekend’s UFC 210.
As his fighter addressed the roaring crowd and announced his retirement, his coach was nowhere to be found.
Instead, fans around the world witnessed a defeated Johnson cry out for his coach’s presence, only to be left with blank broadcast space.
A corner transcript was later released revealing that Hooft stormed backstage in frustration of his fighter, and the world wasn’t pleased.
Taking to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, Hooft explained his actions.
Check it:
“I said, I know it’s hard. It’s already done. I said, ‘Keep your head up'”, explained Hooft as he broke down his dialogue after the fight between himself and his fighter.
“Then, I stepped off and walked away because the cage was crowded. Then I’m backstage and heard that he was retiring, and I was like ‘Oh shit’.”
When the two met backstage Hooft says they embraced and there was no hard feelings or ill will.
“We held eachother and cried backstage.”
“… It’s been difficult for all of us… We were just hoping that this was the next thing for us. It was just hard, but he was very dissapointed and I was very dissapointed as a coach. “
“I’ve never left a fighter… It’s all bullsh*t.”
“I just feel bummed because I wanted to end this one with the title and he has all the qualities to do it and just didn’t do it.”
Thoughts?
