Johny Hendricks will be out for blood when he steps into the cage with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 on Saturday night.
The top welterweight contender has been living in the shadows for far too long. While St-Pierre has maintained a perpetual stranglehold over the welterweight division, Hendricks has participated in an unending dog fight just to become a No. 1 contender.
The path to the UFC title has finally been revealed to the former Oklahoma State Cowboy. On Saturday night, Hendricks will step into the cage against a future Hall of Famer and arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Will he reach up and grab the ever-elusive brass ring that is within reach, or like so many others, will he shrink in the presence of greatness and fall before St-Pierre in agonizing defeat?
One thing is certain: Hendricks’ mind is set on killing St-Pierre.
This certainly isn’t to be taken for its literal context. Rather, Hendricks informed the world at the pre-fight press conference on Thursday that he means business, and he will be looking to stop St-Pierre in devastating fashion:
My mind is to kill him. I mean not in that sense, but it’s to beat him, to demolish him. I want to win where he doesn’t want to fight me again. That’s the way I go into every fight. This fight is no different than any other. He’s done a lot of things, but that doesn’t matter. When he steps into the Octagon with me, the past is the past, and I plan on making a new future.
A future not revolving around St-Pierre is certainly one to ponder.
The UFC welterweight champ has been champion since 2007. If he wins on Saturday night, he will be one title defense away from tying Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history. He would also break his current tie with Matt Hughes for most wins in the UFC.
Nothing in this world lasts forever. St-Pierre is without question the greatest welterweight in MMA history, but if he continues to compete, someone will eventually come along and knock him off his throne. Is that someone Johny Hendricks?
The world will soon find out.
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