After absorbing a nasty groin kick at UFC 294, Victor Henry says he had “no permanent damage to my pills” and is recovering.
Henry also retaliated against MMA observers who demanded that his opponent, Javid Basharat, be penalized for landing the kick that knocked him out of the fight on Saturday.
“I don’t think my opponent had ill intentions to kick my nuts, he threw a legal strike that just so happened to hit an illegal spot,” Henry stated on his social media page.
“Totally not his fault, but that’s MMA.” Basharat denied fouling Henry in the preliminary card battle, implying that his opponent feigned an injury and “quit” the fight. In a heated debate on X, Henry’s coach, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, hit out at Basharat.
Henry confronted other skeptics of his injury – namely, a UFC cageside doctor, who told him the kick did not land on his groin. Henry loudly disputed that as he writhed in pain. After five minutes, he was unable to continue, and the fight was ruled a no-contest 15 seconds into the second round.
The result sent both fighters back to the drawing board, with Henry losing the change to pick up back-to-back wins after a win his previous outing, while Basharat’s three-fight winning streak was interrupted.
Barnett and the UFC said Henry went to the hospital immediately after the fight. UFC CEO Dana White said the UFC bantamweight was vomiting backstage. Barnett said Henry underwent an ultrasound to assess the extent of his injury and suffered severe swelling in his groin.
Henry joked he had to sleep with ice packs on his “smooth criminals” and would “walk funny for a couple days.” Thankfully, though, the damage wasn’t worse.
Below is Henry’s full statement:
A little update for you guys, doctors said no permanent damage to my pills but I’m gonna walk a little funny for a couple days. Swelling has gone down a significant amount after sleeping with ice on my smooth criminals which isn’t very easy to do. For those of you calling for a DQ don’t be ridiculous. I don’t think my opponent had ill intentions to kick my nuts, he threw a legal strike that just so happen to hit an illegal spot. Totally not his fault, but that’s MMA.
