GSP Believes Hendricks Deserved Next Title Shot, But Condit Is More Dangerous

Legendary former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre vacated his long-held title in the aftermath of his highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks in the main event of November 2013’s UFC 167, and when he did, he left a wide array of possibilities open to the stacked division.

Hendricks soon won the belt in the very next 170-pound title fight at March 2014s UFC 171, defeating Robbie Lawler in an exciting back-and-forth bout that came down to a decision. But Lawler wrested the belt from “Bigg Rigg” later that year in an even closer bout at last December’s UFC 181.

It was widely thought that Lawler and Hendricks would have their trilogy match, but when Hendricks signed on for a quick turnaround to dominate Matt Brown at March’s UFC 185, he got left out in the cold. Lawler then defended the title against Rory MacDonald with a rousing war at July’s UFC 189, and Hendricks was once again passed over when news broke last week that “Ruthless” would next face former interim champ Carlos Condit for the title at December’s UFC 194.

Having fought both Hendricks and Condit, St. Pierre has a firm grasp of the situation. The decorated MMA hero recently met up with German MMA outlet GNP1.de to discuss the current welterweight title picture, noting that even though Hendricks probably deserved the next title shot, it’s Condit who could actually be the more dangerous fighter over the course of a five-round fight:

“Carlos Condit is a nightmare,” St-Pierre said. “Of all the guys that I would not want to fight again, it would be Carlos Condit. Because Carlos Condit […] is very well rounded, things can come out of every angle, from everywhere. Johny Hendricks is very good at what he does. Not as surprising as Carlos Condit, but he’s very good at what he does. He hits very hard with his left.

“But I do believe right now, if you talk about ranking and positioning, the man that deserves the title shot would be Johny Hendricks. That’s what I believe. But Carlos Condit is not far behind. And on a five round fight, I believe right now in the mix, Carlos Condit might be the most dangerous guy. He has more weapons in his arsenal and you never know where it’s coming from. It’s just a nightmare fighting a guy like this.”

St. Pierre continued on with his thoughts, going so far as to actually pick Condit in a five-round fighter with both Lawler and Hendricks:

“If I would have to bet – let’s have no choice – between Lawler, Hendricks and Condit, I believe Condit is the one that will emerge victorious. That’s on a five round fight. He’s a nightmare.”

Bold praise from the best welterweight champion ever, who came back from knee surgery to batter Condit at UFC 154 despite ‘The Natural Born Killer’ rocking him with a head kick. Hendricks already bested Condit by decision with a wrestling-heavy performance at March 2013’s UFC 158, but that was a three-round affair.

Do you agree with St. Pierre’s assessment that Condit would defeat the brutalizing Lawler and the stifling Hendricks over the course of a future five-rounder?