St-Pierre not about to underestimate Hendricks
With elite wrestling skills and a sledgehammer for a left hand, Johny Hendricks represents a real threat to UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
“I’ve never fought anybody like him. But he’s never fought anybody like me,” St. Pierre said. “So we’re both unique. We’re going to clash and see who’s the best man.”
For those who have followed the career of the MMA star from Montreal, it’s a familiar refrain. As is StPierre’s comment that while the No. 1 contender poses a lot of problems, the champion has the solution.
“I’m ready. I’m very well prepared. I’m at my best. I’m the best I can be,” St-Pierre said.
The world will find out Nov. 16 in Las Vegas when StPierre (24-2) meets Hendricks (15-1) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
It will mark St-Pierre’s 10th title defence. He lost the first, knocked out by Matt Serra at UFC 69 in April 2007, but reclaimed his championship belt by beating Serra two years later at UFC 83.
Since then, he has defeated Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz.
St-Pierre has won 11 straight since that 2009 loss to Serra and currently ranks second in the UFC’s poundfor-pound rankings, behind only light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
That record and reputation has made GSP a 2-1 favourite to beat Hendricks, odds more respectful of the challenger than in many of the Canadian’s previous fights. A southpaw, the 30-year-old Hendricks has won six straight since dropping a decision to Rick Story in December 2010. And three of those wins (T.J. Waldburger, Fitch and Martin Kampmann) were emphatic first-round knockouts.
A former NCAA champion wrestler at Oklahoma State, Hendricks registered just three takedowns in the five fights after Story. With three of those fights being short, he did not need to dig deep into his arsenal. But last time out, he landed 12 of 15 takedowns in neutralizing the striking game of Condit.
According to FightMetric, St-Pierre’s numbers are much better than Hendricks. The champion is accurate on a UFC-record 76 per cent of his takedowns (compared to 50 per cent for Hendricks) and is successful defending them 86 per cent of the time (63 per cent for Hendricks).