Johny Hendricks Has Brutal Prediction For GSP’s Return
Johny Hendricks has some unfinished business with Georges St-Pierre.
The pair headlined UFC 167 back in 2013 where St-Pierre took home a very controversial split decision win over ‘Bigg Rig.’ Soon after ‘GSP’ announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, and Hendricks would go on to finally capture the welterweight crown.
St-Pierre has yet to suffer a loss in MMA competition since 2007 in an upset loss to Matt Serra via first round TKO. Hendricks believes the judges robbed him of putting the first loss on the Canadian’s record in six years.
‘Bigg Rig’ went on a bit of a downward spiral since his loss to St-Pierre, as he lost his welterweight title in his first ever defense against Robbie Lawler, took home a unanimous decision win over Matt Brown, followed by a three-fight losing skid in which he missed weight in two of those contests. Hendricks’ weight struggles forced him to move up to middleweight where he defeated Hector Lombard via unanimous decision.
Now St-Pierre’s Octagon return is imminent, and rumors are circulating that it could be at Hendricks’ new home of 185 pounds. If that’s the case, Hendricks wants a shot at retribution. The former 170-pound champ joined The MMA Hour earlier today (quotes via MMA Mania) to discuss a possible rematch with ‘Rush’:
“I am (surprised to see him back), I wish he would’ve stayed out. But you know what, a competitor is always going to be a competitor and we’ll see how he comes back. I heard he might be coming to 185, so you know I do (want a piece).”
Hendricks went on to take shots at St-Pierre’s ability to bounce back from adversity, stating that the Canadian decided to hang up the boots when things got hard; while Hendricks pushed through his own rough period before eventually finding success once again:
“So like I went through my rough period, and I did something and was able to bounce back. Whenever he went through his rough period, he got out,” said Johny. “Yeah, you can train, yeah you could do these things, but has he done enough to where he is going to be able to come back a different fighter?”
It’s been over three years since St-Pierre has competed inside the Octagon, plenty of time for the sport to evolve while the Canadian sat on the sidelines. Hendricks believes he has laid out the gameplan to put St-Pierre away, and the time away won’t help his chances against the new breed of fighters in today’s UFC:
“Time changes, it always does. One day, the time is going to change where I am not going to be able to compete with these guys anymore. It’s just the way that it is. Once I showed how to defeat Georges St-Pierre, I think people are going to start using that gameplan and it’s going to be harder on him,” he said.
“You look at Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, these guys that didn’t stay out when they were on top. They come back and are not the same fighter. Three and a half years, two years is a long time for someone to decrease or for everyone else to move up.”
Do you want to see a rematch between St-Pierre and Hendricks?
