Displays of sportsmanship are nice in MMA, but sometimes they’re annoying. Full-fledged hugs are a bit too much in the middle of a fistfight.
That said, you couldn’t blame Devonte Smith and Khama Worthy for a smile and a high-five. After all, they’ve been friends and training partners before they’d stepped into the octagon against each other Saturday night at UFC 241.
And yet, some of the folks at the Honda Center weren’t having it. They booed the display.
Critics shut up fast, though, when Worthy sent Smith to the canvas with a perfectly placed left hook seconds later. Worthy was so amped, he hopped out of the octagon and did a full lap around the apron.
Check it out (via Twitter):
Worthy, nicknamed “The Death Star,” had good reason to be excited. Just three weeks earlier, he’d been fighting his way through the regional MMA wilderness. Smith, he said afterward, had lifted him up by reposting a recent third-round KO victory.
As it turns out, that tape got him hired to fight his friend – on four days’ notice. The two didn’t appear thrilled about the idea but said they would put friendship aside and get to business.
Afterward, Worthy gave his younger friend mad props and said he would bounce back stronger.
“But I’m 33, and I need to get paid now,” Worthy said. “That was the first knockout of the night. Can I get $50,000?”
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