Sokoudjou is sorry for acting like a jackass
Score one for the "African Assassin." It's not often you see athletes own up to being a schmuck but Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou did just that. Sokoudjou lost his mind at the end of his win over Jan Nortje at last week's Super Hulk Tournament at DREAM 9. Sokoudjou finished the big South African with a series of punches and hammerfists on the ground. When the referee tried to jump in and stop the fight, Sokoudjou refused to stop and got off six more punches. The result was a WWE-style melee in the ring that included Ray Sefo flipping his lid and announcer Michael Chiavello going into full Gus Johnson conniption-mode (2:40 mark).
This week Sokoudjou explained his actions and didn't lay any of the blame on Nortje:
"It's just one of those moments where – you know I lost two fights in a row, and I was in a state where I told myself, 'There's no way I can lose this fight.' I got (Nortje) on the ground, just like I thought I would do, and I was pounding and I didn't want to stop. But I should have stopped."
Yahoo Sports' Maggie Hendricks put the blame on the referee, Sokoudjou took the high road saying he went over the line and told Nortje the same thing:
"There's no bad blood. He's been nice. We've run into each other, and every time he's always been a gentlemen. I feel like a douchebag doing it. I'm really sorry for it."
Who knew "d-bag" was part of the vernacular in Cameroon? Sokoudjou will face Gegard Mousasi, Ikuhisa Minowa or Hong Man Choi in the next round of The Super Hulk.
