Before I write another word about Johny Hendricks, I have a confession to make. I am biased. I am an Oklahoma State alumnus, born and raised in beautiful Stillwater, Oklahoma. At the dinner table each night as a young Lucky, we thanked God for
Henry Iba,
Eddie Sutton, and the entire Smith wrestling dynasty (LeRoy,
John,
Pat, & Mark) with their 7 national championships and 2 Olympic gold medals. I take great pride in the 34 national champions and 134 individual NCAA championships of my school and alma mater. And our Johny is part of that bedrock. When I see a Cowboy wrestler with a freaking spitter on stage at a UFC presss conference, rocking an epic beard, and his easy going folksy accent, I know that's my guy. That's a Good Ole Boy. Now with all of that being said, I can objectively and emphatically state: Johny Hendricks Is Getting Screwed Hendricks (14-1) will not get the next title shot at Georges St-Pierre. In fact, he's not even the next Welterweight that's going to get his turn at GSP. In his fight against Martin Kampmann, Dana said he wasn't sure if the winner of that fight would get the next crack at GSP. But not because another Welterweight was more deserving, but because the potential super fight with Anderson Silva loomed. A super fight has yet to materialize and yet Johny has been benched. Why? I'm glad you asked. http://youtu.be/lHByIwm9B4Q
#1 Contender Credentials
The first thing we must address is: does Johny truly deserve the next shot? Did he earn it with his performances in the octagon? Does he have reason to be upset? Yes. Yes. And yes. Johny is currently on a five fight win streak and 9-1 inside the UFC with 5 KOs and 3 KotN awards. Here are his last three opponents and their division ranking when he fought them: Jon Fitch (#2), Josh Koscheck (#7), and Martin Kampmann (#6). He beat them all and he knocked out two of them in a combined 58 seconds. And not just knocked out. He sent Kampmann and Fitch on a plane ride to the other side of the arena. We're talking Looney Toons style with little birdies and stars circling around their head as they rocket into the stratosphere type KOs. In fact, Fitch was so blitzed that he immediately pulled a beautiful sweep into side mount on Steve Mazzagatti, the referee, as Johny celebrated Gangnam Style all over the cage. In those two fights, Hendricks revealed that he not only has the best power in the Welterweight division with that atomic left hand, but he's on the short list of biggest power P4P alongside Dan Henderson, Mark Hunt, and Shane Carwin. With that type of power, Johny can literally end the fight at any time with a single punch. And what could be more exciting that that? Now let's look at some other recent contenders that have gotten title shots against GSP and their previous three fights before a title shot:
Carlos Condit: Nick Diaz (#2), Dong-Hyun Kim (NR), Dan Hardy (#4) Jake Shields: Martin Kampmann (#6), Dan Henderson (#2), Jason Miller (NR) Josh Koscheck: Paul Daley (#7), Anthony Johnson (NR), Frank Trigg (NR) Dan Hardy: Mike Swick (#7), Marcus Davis (NR), Rory Markham (NR) Let's invert the numbers for a point value, so a #10 ranked opponent is worth 1 point and a #1 ranked opponent is worth 10 points. Let's see how these fighters stack up with Johny:
18 points - Johny Hendricks (5+4+9) 16 points - Carlos Condit (9+0+7) 14 points - Jake Shields (5+9+0) 4 points - Josh Koscheck (4+0+0) 4 points - Dan Hardy (4+0+0) Not only is Johny clearly deserving of the #1 contender honor in comparison to the other fights for GSP's crown, but Hendricks arguably has the BEST resume for such a title shot. All of the last three opponents he's faced have been top 10 Welterweights. The only other fighter that comes close is Condit and he just gave GSP perhaps the toughest fight of his career. On top of that, Johny is the best credentialed freestyle wrestler in the UFC. Better than Rashad Evans. Better than Jon Jones. Case in point, his wrestling pedigree held Koscheck to just two take down attempts, when Josh historically has attempted six every fifteen minutes. There's no question. Johny, more so than any other Welterweight in recent history, has earned his shot. He has paid his dues.
Dana's #1 Contender
So if Johny isn't getting the title shot, then who is? This guy: Nick Diaz (26-8). Diaz has been hand-picked to be the next fight for Georges St-Pierre. What has he done in his last three fights?
Nick Diaz: Carlos Condit (#8, LOSS), BJ Penn (#9), Paul Daley (#9) Again let's insert Diaz into our quick and dirty formula from above:
18 points - Johny Hendricks (5+4+9) 16 points - Carlos Condit (9+0+7) 14 points - Jake Shields (5+9+0) 4 points - Josh Koscheck (4+0+0) 4 points - Dan Hardy (4+0+0) 1 point - Nick Diaz (-3+2+2) Not only is Nick Diaz coming off of a decision loss in which he seemed particularly one dimensional in his tactics against a brilliantly executed game plan tailored to his weaknesses, but he's faced the weakest competition of any of the previous contenders for GSP's title. BJ is not even a true Welterweight. Not a single Top 5 opponent. In fact, if you go back through Diaz's entire record, you won't find a single victory against Top 5 opponent. And he struggles against elite wrestlers. Hello, GSP. This doesn't mean that Nick isn't deserving of a title shot or that he's a bad fighter, but there's no way he can be considered a #1 contender in comparison to Hendricks' resume. Johny has the better record and the better results against top level competition. Johny has also been a good soldier and company man, modest and open during media days and post-fight pressers. He stepped in on short notice to replace an injured Dennis Hallman on UFC Fight Night 24. Aren't these the exact attributes and qualities that Dana is bemoaning from his fighters now? Courage to take a fight when offered and the professionalism to promote fights for the UFC? Diaz has been quite the opposite with his recent behavior: 2007: victory over Takanori Gomi overturned to a NC for positive drug test 2010: suspended for starting a brawl during Strikeforce: Nashville 2012: skipped media obligations for UFC 137 2012: stripped of title shot against GSP 2012: tested positive for drug use in loss against Carlos Condit 2012: threatened to retire from the sport With all of this misconduct, difficulty in accepting the spotlight and obligations of a UFC title shot, and lackluster contender credentials why in the world has Nick Diaz jumping back to the front of the line after a ONE YEAR suspension from a drug test? Because he's an epic
trash talker. That's right. Because Nick Diaz has insulted GSP by callin him scared, a faker, a ducker, a motherf**ker, and more, he gets to cut in line for a title shot. Because there is a new legion of wannabe thugs that champion the Diaz cage style and his 209 lifestyle, he gets to cut in line for a title shot. Because Nick Diaz's antisocial personality will likely drive more PPVs with the pro-wrasslin' shtick of angry promos, all of his transgressions against the media, the fans, and Dana White are going to be ignored ... and he gets a title shot. What does this say to Johny Hendricks? A humble, soft spoken man that talks in the ring and now out of it. A man who doesn't spend his time starting melees on national TV or repping a gangster lifestyle on Youtube and Twitter. It says that all of the out of the ring antics matter more than Nick's multiple drug suspensions, more than Johny's string of Knockout of the Night bonuses, more than the best #1 contender resume since Thiago Alves ran through Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, and Karo Parisyan for his shot back in 2009. It says one thing loud and clear ... Nice guys truly finish last.
