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Johny Hendricks: Nick Diaz Has Had Two Chances to Fight GSP, I Only Want One

2K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  Canadian Psycho 
#1 ·
t looks like the UFC wants to match welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre against Nick Diaz next, but Johny Hendricks believes he should get the shot.

Hendricks has won five straight, including knockouts of Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann. On Thursday, though, UFC President Dana White said St. Pierre would like to fight Diaz next.

“If he’d have beat [Carlos] Condit, he would have been fighting GSP at that time and you’ve also got to think, Nick Diaz did have a chance to fight GSP a year and a half ago. He didn’t show up to his press conference,” Hendricks told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Cheap Seats” show prior to White’s comments on Diaz likely getting the next shot. “He’s had two shots to get GSP. All I’m asking is for one. That’s all that I’m asking for, and the thing is, the more that [St. Pierre’s camp] is talking about these other people and not wanting to fight me, it’s just giving me more and more confidence.”

Diaz did miss a press conference in September 2011 and was pulled from a title shot against St. Pierre. He could have also earned a crack at the champion by beating Condit this past February, but he lost the bout via unanimous decision. After that loss he tested positive for marijuana metabolites, and the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended him for a year.

“If he gets to take it after a year layoff and a loss, then it is what it is,” Hendricks said of Diaz getting the opportunity to fight St. Pierre. “You know what I mean? Enough being said, right? Here I’ve been in the last year, I’ve fought three guys in the top five and I’ve beat them all.”

Diaz has been an outspoken critic of St. Pierre, who in return hasn’t hid his dislike for the potential challenger. Hendricks doesn’t think that alone warrants a title fight, though.

“I can be the first one that can beat GSP,” he said. “I don’t think you have to sit there and talk trash. I don’t think I should have to. That’s why I like this sport, is that it’s not about who can talk the most trash. It’s how good your performances are, right? That’s what I really do like about this sport. You’re only as good as your last fight, and nothing else matters. Of course you do have to ask for the fights, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been asking since Josh Koscheck. I want a shot at GSP. Nothing else matters but that right there because he has the belt.”

If Hendricks gets passed over for Diaz, he seems willing to wait for the following title shot rather than fight again in the meantime.

“You can only hope for it, and there’s only so much that I can do to get a title shot,” Hendricks said. “I don’t want to be one of those people that has to be a jerk or whatever to somebody to get it. If they bypass me, guess what? I can wait. I got better in three months. I felt like I have improved a little bit on my striking and I improved a lot on my jiu-jitsu just in three months. If I have more time to wait, then guess what? I’m going to try to get that much better.”
Wow! Hendricks is really getting the shaft here. 5 fight win streak and he's getting passed over for the guy that just recently lost to Carlos Condit and was suspended for drug use. Way to keep it real Dana. How about giving Urijah Faber a shot at Ben Henderson while your at it.
 
#4 ·
...Personally, I'd like to see Hendricks fight Diaz. Can't forget Rory MacDonald & Carlos Condit which will most likely happen. That fight will be a nasty barn burner. Johny is right up there at the top of the mix. I think Hendricks is ready to face GSP. That would be a wrestling 101 clinic with perhaps a powerful knockout...
 
#5 · (Edited)
I respect what Hendricks has done thus far, but here are my challenges with him against GSP.

1. People quote his college wrestling and how that will help him, but EVERY wrestler at 170 has a huge amateur pedigree and still can't stop/defend GSP's power single/double. Hendricks will be in big trouble on his back, where frankly he would be in most if not all of the fight with GSP. If Hendricks has any chance, its a punchers chance. We all know what luck punchers have against champions in this era of the UFC.

2. From a money/interest perspective Hendricks has 0 chance of selling a fight massively like a Diaz. Hate the player, and the game. The facts are the facts. He needs to find himself to sell the general public that we care enough to see it. Stalk GSP, put your finger in his chest. Cause a scene at an autograph signing.....something to make people interested. Sayin the champ is 'afraid or ducking' him or that 'I can present a threat' is what everyone says. Think outside of the box and make it marketable. Otherwise you will end up like Weidman. Good guy, but could care less right now about the match up against one of the best EVER in a division.

I get being politically correct and all, but you are a FIGHTER, not an Oprah book of the month reader. You can be intelligent AND entertaining if need be, but you have to make a splash.

3. Avoid the hype machine. Hendricks isn't any different than the guy who went to a split decision against Kos. Take nothing away from Koscheck, but really if you had a tough time with his abilities, what will you do against GSP?

At least Anderson got people excited by point blank calling GSP out. Positive or negative we all talked about it.

Can Hendricks do the same, on the level Diaz and Silva can?
 
#6 ·
]Avoid the hype machine. Hendricks isn't any different than the guy who went to a split decision against Kos. Take nothing away from Koscheck, but really if you had a tough time with his abilities, what will you do against GSP?
I completely agree with this.

He has a split against both Kos and Pierce, his KO over Waldburger doesn't mean anything at all. Basically he KO'd Fitch and Kampmann, Kampmann having been KO'd multiple times before (against hard strikers of course), so that's not a huge surprise with Hendricks kind of power.

Don't get me wrong, he's definitely the #1 contender, but this will be Alves all over again except GSP will probably strike with him less and take him down more. I see an easy one-sided victory.

I can easily see people upset about Diaz getting the shot given his situation, but personally I can't see Hendricks doing anything to GSP and I've wanted Diaz vs. GSP for so long that I just want them to fight and get it over with before it's a missed opportunity.
 
#8 ·
2. From a money/interest perspective Hendricks has 0 chance of selling a fight massively like a Diaz. Hate the player, and the game. The facts are the facts. He needs to find himself to sell the general public that we care enough to see it. Stalk GSP, put your finger in his chest. Cause a scene at an autograph signing.....something to make people interested. Sayin the champ is 'afraid or ducking' him or that 'I can present a threat' is what everyone says. Think outside of the box and make it marketable. Otherwise you will end up like Weidman. Good guy, but could care less right now about the match up against one of the best EVER in a division.
So the only way to make a splash is to act like a dick? Funny I thought reeling off wins was the way to make a splash.

As for Hendricks not having a chance, probably true but no matter how low his chances are the probability of him beating GSP is orders of magnitude higher than Diaz. Diaz has been controlled by wrestlers who are miles less well rounded, less athletic than GSP. How can that fight not look like Henderson-Diaz?

Oh, Diaz can threaten from his back. Yeah, because GSP is so easy to sub. That is not happening, it virtually never happens in MMA any more to anyone not named Sonnen. Subs from the bottom are incredibly rare against anyone and GSP has the best top control in MMA.

Diaz not only doesn't deserve the fight but he has the least chance of anyone you consider a top 10 WW.
 
#9 ·
People seem to be forgetting that Dana White never said he thought Diaz DESERVED the next titles shot. He said GSP asked for that fight, and as the pay per view golden boy and company man he is that never asks for anythin, Dana agreed.

As the champ I don't think you should get to pick your fights on a regular basis, but when you're a champ like GSP who has taken on and defeated all comers, requesting a single fight once every few years should be okay.
 
#11 ·
As the champ I don't think you should get to pick your fights on a regular basis, but when you're a champ like GSP who has taken on and defeated all comers, requesting a single fight once every few years should be okay.
I would agree with this but there has to be limits. The fight still has to make sense. A guy coming off a loss and year long suspension makes no sense, it is absurd.
 
#10 ·
Totally on Hendricks' side here. I don't care that it's not the best match up and it would probably be a dominant GSP victory, it's the fact that the UFC is shafting top contenders in order to make a quick dollar.

Diaz has no way earnt the right to fight GSP, nor has Sonnen the right to fight Jones over Henderson

Money money money..
 
#15 ·
i just don't understand why people would prefer to see Gsp against Diaz. The fight against Hendricks is far more interesting. He actually has a shot to win.
Diaz has no chance. He doesn't have one punch knockout power and he wont submit GSP. He will just get taken down over and over again. It will be like the recent fight with Bendo and Nate, but even more lopsided. Pointless
 
#17 ·
I feel bad for Hendricks not because he's the most dangerous guy to fight GSP but he was told he was the #1 contender. Dana should have stuck to his word and let him have the title shot. Don't get me wrong, when I think of GSP vs. Diaz I get a big smile on my face because GSP will put Nick in his place.

If you look at the facts though Diaz does not deserve the fight over JH. Diaz just lost to Condit and hasn't fought since then. I don't want to start the suspension arguement but the fact remains that he's suspended for not following the set of rules that he was well aware of regardless the sillyness of the rule. He at least needs to beat someone/anyone to even be considered at #1 contender. There are lots of bad matchups at WW for Diaz too where he might have a hard time climbing the ladder again. Fitch would have him down in seconds, I'm inclined to believe that Maia would just take him down and strangle him despite him being good at BJJ himself. Rory would likely destroy him.

Anyways I'm getting off point here but if the UFC wasn't a business, and showing a fairly significant decline in total PPV buys I bet JH would have had this title shot. I think the UFC needs to make big fights on PPV to maximize buys because they are catering to Fox with amazing cards but that's a whole new can of worms.
 
#19 ·
Let's be real here and look at the facts.

Old School Fans

Our entire LOVE for the sport came from Pride, we got tapes and watched them with our friends. Sure we saw the UFC 1 tapes when we were super young, and heard of guys like Gracie and Shamrock, but Pride is where our LOVE for the sport came from, where we followed numbered events, and got into the whole world of MMA.

Here is about as real as it gets.

Pride was an extension of wrestling. The fight promo was wrestling, the fighters shoot interviews were wrestling heck, Pride was LEGEBDARY for the mismatches they put together. For every Randleman versus Fedor, there were 5 Cro Cop versus Dos Caras' type fights (had to throw in the additional wrestling reference). We need to remember the past without the rose coloured glasses. Back in the day we had a lot of 'gong show' fights. Way more so than now. Yes there were legit contenders, but the 'belt' was put up a number of times in situations/fights that had no rhyme or reason for happening other than 60 thousand people would show up for it, and pay good money to see it.

People who want MMA to be a 'legit sport'

MMA is a legit sport. As much so or more than boxing is now. Matchmaking is important, but people have this fairy tale ranking system based on a couple of websites, or what a few journalists say.

Which ranking system is official in MMA? Which governing body controls who contenders are?

Exactly, they don't have one.

Look, MMA is still in its infancy as a sport, as things pan out, and the sport becomes mainstream (it still isn't) anyone who 'works up the ranks' will be a marketable household name, thus no issues. Because the sport isn't like that now, you will see fights like James Toney vs Randy.

For now, fights are for making money and spreading the word. Casual people don't have a clue as to who Hendricks is, or what he can do. Everyone that says Hendrick's "deserves a shot" follow it up with he doesn't really have much except a punchers chance against GSP for now.

As much as I respect Hendricks (honestly, I respect the hell out of anyone that takes this up as a career, and don't get it twisted I think if he continues to work on a few things, he like so many others has a solid chance) as a person who understands its as much as for money as it is for sport, I don't see the worth of him fighting GSP now.

Does he DESERVE to fight GSP? I don't contest that at all. Much like I think Fitch did 5 fights into his win streak. Will it hurt Hendricks to fight someone like a Condit, Macdonald or Mardquart (who will probably be back in the UFC soon)? Probably not. If he wins that and does something to really bring a buzz for him where he can be viewed as a legit challenger, great.

I'm not saying Diaz has any more of a chance. What I am saying is that Diaz vs GSP will bring even a casual fan to watch the fight, because both guys are marketable. Building on that can help further build the sport as well.

There is no dispute to that. It's just fact.
 
#20 ·
Diaz over Hendricks doesn't even have anything to do with a ranking system.

Dana White and Zuffa promote the UFC as the fastest growing SPORT in the world and Dana has said time and time again this isn't Boxing. You don't even need rankings for this, Diaz lost his last fight and yes he lost, it's statistically proven he was out-struck by Condit in Rounds 1, 3, and 4 and there were no takedowns until the fourth which he didn't get so yes he lost, and Hendricks has won his last five fights, three of them in brutal fashion becoming the first man in the UFC to finish Jon Fitch and the first man to knock Kampmann out cold(keyword is out cold, I'm aware Daley and Marquardt stopped him). That has nothing to do with a ranking, that's called earning your shot but Diaz jumped to the front of the line because he hurt Frenchy's feelings, the same Nick Diaz that as Hendricks pointed out failed to do his media obligations and then lost to Condit for the interim title.

This isn't similar to the Middleweight title picture where you've got Weidman and Boetsch who both deserve a title shot, so the ranking argument holds no merit here.
 
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