TJ Grant fires back at Internet consipracy theorists crying payoff, insists UFC 164 injury was legit

Top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight contender T.J. Grant has been injured and forced to withdraw from his upcoming UFC 164 title fight on August 31, 2013 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, paving the way for the long-awaited (and much desired) Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis rematch.

See how it all went down by clicking here.

The mixed martial arts (MMA) fan base, naturally, was suspicious of the timing, considering how hard "Showtime" was campaigning for a "Smooth" rematch in recent weeks. While it initially failed to get him a headlining spot in his hometown, it did lead to some nice back-and-forth exchanges on Twitter.

Like this one.

Following the UFC 164 shake up, Grant took to the popular social media network to explain the circumstances behind his injury, as well as put to rest and and all conspiracy theories about taking a payoff from UFC President Dana White prior to exiting stage left.

His words.

Sorry all you conspiracy theorists. @danawhite / @ufc did not and could not pay me any amount of money to step aside. I am healing from a concussion I suffered in BJJ of all things. I hope to be back training very soon.

He was knocked out while practicing jiu-jitsu.

Hey, it happens (sorry Josh). Not much, but it happens, so we take Grant at his word and try to avoid cooking up wild scenarios, like the ones that were surfacing in the aftermath of the UFC 162 main event back on July 6 in Las Vegas. That fight wasn't fixed and it sounds like Grant was not chasing money.

Move along, nothing to see here.