The UFC's poet laureate, Nik Lentz, issues a new poem ahead of fight with Danny Castillo
ORLANDO -- Though he didn't attend the UFC on FOX 17 media day on Thursday, Nik Lentz wasn't exactly idling in his hotel room. In fact, "The Carny" was busy writing a poem just two days ahead of his fight with Danny Castillo on Saturday night's prelims — his third such installment since striking out against B.J. Penn in October.
In this one, the bard of fisticuffs revisited last week's colossal weekend in Las Vegas, with detours into Al Iaquinta eating jabs and yet another potshot at his original muse, the "Prodigy" himself.
Lentz shared his latest work with MMA Fighting.
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I'm sittin' here, in Florida
Or-Lan-Do
Thinkin', like we all are
About last week's show
How Conor devoured Aldo
In one fast gulp
And Rockhold battered Weidman
Into a bloody, ruined, pulp
And Jacare and Romero
Rollin' around on the floor
And the Revolutionary starched Joby
Plus so much more
But that show's in the past
And great it may have been
But come Saturday evening
The Carny's gonna win
I done my share of fighting
And I've learned as I go
Lost a couple here and there
Things've gone to and fro
But I put it back together
Every time I hit a snag
And I ain't the type to boast
Or bluster, or brag
The guy I gotta fight
Let me tell you, my friends
He ain't a bloated coward
Like B.J. Penn
He's a tough sonovabitch
Who ain't comin' to lose
And he can keep kickin' me
Til he needs new shoes
He can punch til he's tired,
Mr. Danny Castillo
And I can be bleedin'
more than Padre Pio
And losin' teeth faster
Than a Lion in Winter
And eatin' more jabs
Than Al Iaquinta
But I ain't gonna quit
And tough tho' he is
Frankie Edgar is "The Answer"
But this ain't no quiz
It's back to the wall
All hands on deck
All sheets to the wind
This guy I must wreck
So tune in on Saturday
You'll see I ain't lyin'
The Carny's gonna win
Or he's gonna die tryin'
*
Lentz is coming off a third-round submission loss against Charles Oliveira back in May, but has gone 4-2 since dropping to featherweight at UFC 150 in 2012. Castillo might be facing a do-or-die situation coming into this weekend. He has lost four of five over all and three in a row, his latest coming via split decision against Jim Miller at UFC on FOX 16 in July.
When asked about his fight with Castillo, Lentz said he had his hands full.
"Danny Castillo is as tough as two-dollar steak," he said. "But I grew up on two-dollar steaks."