TUF 12 Finale Preview: Johny Hendricks Talks Rick Story

by Nick Thomas on Nov 29, 2010 9:23 AM EST in UFC Quotes

"He’s the same type of fighter as me; he wants to go out banging and standing up. When you look at his style and mine it’s going to be whoever can win the standup battle. He does like to bang, likes to get people up against the fence, take them down and do some ground and pound. I’m just the opposite. If the takedown is there naturally I’ll take it, but I’m not looking for it. I’m looking to finish the fight."

"The reason I started the beard, I was letting it grow ... and after (the Alex Serdyukov fight in the WEC) I shaved it off and Marc (Laimon) was like, ‘why’d you shave it off? You should have left it.’ I shaved it because I did what I had to do. Win or lose it had to come off because I knew that I could finally relax. But from here on out, I’ll always have the beard when it comes to fighting, just because Marc didn’t want me to shave it off."

"It’s a good matchup for both of us. We’re both coming up. We’re both talented. We’re both going to go out there and put on a good show and whoever wins the fight is one step closer to his goal. For me that’s to be the UFC (Welterweight) champion. That’s my whole goal."

-- Check out the full interview at UFC.com. Join us Saturday, Dec. 4th for the TUF 12 Finale at 9:00 p.m. ET on Spike TV.

Johny Hendricks (9-0) -250
Win Charlie Brenneman - TKO (Punches) UFC 117
Win T.J. Grant - Decision (Majority) UFC 113
Win Ricardo Funch - Decision (Unanimous) UFC 107
Win Amir Sadollah - TKO (Punches) UFC 101

Rick "Horror" Story (11-3) +190
Win Dustin Hazelett - TKO (Punches) UFC 117
Win Nick Osipczak - Decision (Split) UFC 112
Win Jesse Lennox - Decision (Split) UFC FN 20
Win Brian Foster - Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) UFC 103

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Comments

This fight will be AWESOME!!!

by truck on Nov 29, 2010 9:36 AM EST reply actions

Agreed.

I can’t wait for this fight. These guys are both solid prospects and can end the fight at any time. I’ve got Hendricks taking a hard fought decision.

by budgellism on Nov 29, 2010 11:40 AM EST up reply actions

This fight is going to be great. It’s hard for me to pick a winner here because they are both so alike. I’ll go with Hendricks, but wouldn’t be surprised to see Story win this one. I think that it’ll go to decision, but it will be a war.

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by chrisbboy82 on Nov 29, 2010 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

Both these guys are great prospects

I’m leaning towards Hendricks but this oughta be a great fight

by 19Miles on Nov 29, 2010 9:47 AM EST reply actions

These guys are definitely not getting enough attention

Hopefully the winner gets put on a UFC hype train. Glad to see it on free tv.

by Stiff Jab on Nov 29, 2010 9:51 AM EST reply actions

I'm Psyched for this fight

These are two guys who can dominate most people on the ground, and can keep it competitive on the feet.

I’ve got Hendricks winning due to having cement hands, but I think it will be a damn good fight!

Is there any question that the WW division is the most stacked, exciting division..by far?

1 Georges St. Pierre
2 Jon Fitch
3 Josh Koscheck
4 Thiago Alves
5 Jake Shields
6 Martin Kampmann
7 Nick Diaz
8 Carlos Condit
9 Matt Hughes
10 Dan Hardy
11 Paul Daley
12 Paulo Thiago
13 Diego Sanchez
14 Chris Lytle
15 Jay Hieron
16 Mike Swick
17 Ben Askren
18 Mike Pyle
19 Matt Serra
20 John Hathaway
21 Anthony Johnson
22 Jake Ellenberger
23 Dan Hornbuckle
24 Mike Pierce
25 Ricardo Almeida

This is the only division where anyone from the top 25 can give almost anyone else fits. Mike Pierce could just as easily be ranked 13 as 24. Jake Ellenberger has beaten Pyle (ranked ahead of him) and almost beat Condit.

by Fedorable on Nov 29, 2010 10:42 AM EST reply actions

hendricks getting brought along too slow

Why is it taking forever for this guy to get a true marquee fight – he joined the WEC in 2008 and is nearing two years with Zuffa, the guy wins and has a good rate of finishes in a division where the top guys aren’t always finishing fights.

His wrestling credentials are better than anyone else in the div, Sadollah has gotten better fights so far because of TUF, why is this guy flying so far under the radar

by RJK256 on Nov 29, 2010 11:48 AM EST reply actions

Why rush him?

He’s not that old, still in his mid-twenties and is clearly not the finished article yet. Why rush the guy when you can build him slowly?

by Newman24 on Nov 29, 2010 2:28 PM EST up reply actions

No he's not.

The guy just figured out how to do proper weight-cutting. Let him take his time.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
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by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 3:20 PM EST up reply actions

weight cutting

this guy was a 4 time all american and two time national champion – most wrestlers we see, have little trouble with the cut having been so used to it – he was a 165lb wrestler so cutting down should be pretty straight forward and far easier than a typical maintenance within the season.

He is 27, he has 3 years of fighting professionally, guys with less experience has got earlier pushes. Koscheck fought a seasoned guy like spratt in his second ufc fight and early on was getting publicity. You can give Hendricks a guy like Baroni that is high profile with name recognition, Swick, Sanchez, Rumble, and Almedia could all be paired to have him as a headliner or co-headliner of a ultimate fight night.

by RJK256 on Nov 29, 2010 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

He said it himself.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
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by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

And right now he’s facing a very stiff test in Rick Story, a match he’s just barely favored in by most. He walked through Sadollah, but that could have been a fluke so he got Grant and struggled mightily. He barely made it through that fight. He was very impressive against Brenneman, with a decent win over Funch thrown in there, and Story seems just about right for Hendricks at this point.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
Twitter me and what not. | SB Nation Bay Area

by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 4:00 PM EST up reply actions

Huh?!?

Although he is slightly undersized for WW, he is probably one of the top-3 or top-5 most decorated amateur wrestlers in all of MMA, so I can’t imagine him of all people having an issue cutting weight – what happened that makes you say that?

"Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it."
-Mark Twain
"If I tell you I'm good, you would probably think I'm boasting. If I tell you I'm no good, you know I'm lying..."
-Bruce Lee

by The American Ronin on Nov 29, 2010 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

He said it himself following the Grant fight.

This guy is my second favorite fighter, so don’t think I’m just not giving him credit. I love The Beard.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
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by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

Fair enough

As much as I love the guy, and think he is on the short list of “the future” imo, as I mentioned, he seems somewhat undersized (and he wrestled at 165 iirc) so perhaps he is the rare top american wrestler who doesn’t cut weight.

Any recollection of a source/link for that, as I would love to look further into this?

Frankly, if he really doesn’t currently cut much weight, he has no chance at the best of the best at WW and might be better served getting with someone like Mike Dolce who can show him how to cut safely and properly and then moving to LW.

by The American Ronin on Nov 29, 2010 4:26 PM EST up reply actions

It was to Helwani directly after the fight before the post fight press conferences, best I can recall. I can look for a link a bit later. The point is that he was lazy about it leading up to the fight and really has just learned to be “strict,” with himself. He didn’t approach the fight smartly, and watching it, I can definitely tell.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
Twitter me and what not. | SB Nation Bay Area

by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 6:08 PM EST up reply actions

may or may not have been Helwani, btw. But I think there was video of it.

And then God created Saturn... and he liked it, so he put a ring on it.
Twitter me and what not. | SB Nation Bay Area

by James Brady on Nov 29, 2010 6:09 PM EST up reply actions

Thank you sir

by The American Ronin on Nov 29, 2010 10:50 PM EST up reply actions

For one thing

his teammate Rosholt was rushed too quickly and paid the price for it.

Although I am somewhat surprised they are putting these two together at this point in their careers, this is a good fight for both guys at this stage. If he shows as well as I expect him to, I suspect the winner gets someone in the top-25 next, perhaps even top-15 or so.

by The American Ronin on Nov 29, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions