Author: Damon Martin

Johny Hendricks Earns Title Shot with Win at UFC 158, Carlos Condit in Limbo

The co-main event at UFC 158 this weekend has some interesting title implications attached to it for Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit. Before the event was ever made official, Hendricks appeared poised in the catbird seat awaiting his chance to challe…

The co-main event at UFC 158 this weekend has some interesting title implications attached to it for Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit.

Before the event was ever made official, Hendricks appeared poised in the catbird seat awaiting his chance to challenge Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title.  The tables were turned on Hendricks however when the UFC announced it would be Nick Diaz getting the shot at St-Pierre and the belt, and he would instead fight in the night’s co-main event.

Now Hendricks faces former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit with the chance to solidify his place as the last man standing at 170 pounds waiting for the chance to challenge St-Pierre for the belt after the dust settles on Saturday night.

The same cannot be said for Condit however because if St-Pierre beats Diaz, the UFC won’t offer him the same chance because he just fought the Canadian last November.

“Obviously if (Hendricks) beats Carlos Condit, I just think Carlos Condit is the right fight for him to make him the No. 1 contender,” White said on Thursday when asked if Hendricks gets the next title shot with a win.   

“Condit just fought (St-Pierre).”

It appears with a win, Hendricks is next in line regardless of who comes out on top Saturday night between St-Pierre and Diaz.

As for Carlos Condit, he may have just become the biggest Nick Diaz fan outside of his friends and family back home in California.  If St-Pierre is victorious at UFC 158, a Condit win would likely relegate him back into the pool of contenders at 170 pounds regardless of a win over Johny Hendricks.

If Nick Diaz is able to take out St-Pierre and Condit conquers Hendricks, a rematch between the two welterweights could easily take place next. 

Condit defeated Diaz at UFC 143 last year to claim the UFC interim welterweight title in a closely contested stand-up battle.  The two fighters were actually going to do an immediate rematch, but Diaz tested positive for marijuana following his post-fight drug test and ended up with a one-year suspension for his infraction so the fight never took place.

If Diaz and Condit win, a rematch could be just the fight the UFC is looking to promote.

The stakes are very high for both Hendricks and Condit at UFC 158, and both will be very interested parties when watching the main event between St-Pierre and Diaz after their fight is finished.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt Gets Next UFC Heavyweight Title Shot

When Mark Hunt came to the UFC in 2010, he was a leftover product from the UFC’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championships. Hunt had a 5-7 record, and the UFC actually tried to buy out his contract, as opposed to letting him fight in the Octagon. Now, n…

When Mark Hunt came to the UFC in 2010, he was a leftover product from the UFC’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championships. Hunt had a 5-7 record, and the UFC actually tried to buy out his contract, as opposed to letting him fight in the Octagon.

Now, not even three years later, Hunt has won four fights in a row and has a chance at UFC 160 in May to earn a shot at the UFC heavyweight title.

Following the conclusion of the UFC 158 pre-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White stuck around to speak to reporters. Hunt’s name has come up a lot since he signed on last week to face former champion Junior dos Santos in May.

White went on to call Hunt “one of the greatest stories in sports right now,” and his winning streak in the heavyweight division cannot be denied.

“I tell you what, it’s crazy to say, but if he knocks Junior dos Santos out, how’s this guy not next in line?” White said on Thursday.

The same offer will also be extended to Junior dos Santos should he get past Hunt at UFC 160, which would put him back in a heavyweight title fight after losing the belt to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 to close out 2012.

“If he goes in there and destroys Mark Hunt, it makes sense for him to have the title shot again,” White said about dos Santos.

The UFC heavyweight title is up for grabs already at UFC 160, when champion Cain Velasquez looks to go two-for-two against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event. Velasquez defeated Silva last year at UFC 146 by TKO, but the Brazilian then picked up big wins over Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem to earn a shot at the belt.

The bout between dos Santos and Hunt will serve as the co-main event on the same card, and now both competitors will have even more to fight for with a title shot awaiting the winner.

UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2 tickets go on sale on Friday, March 22. The event takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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UFC 164 Headed to Milwaukee for Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown

The UFC has signed a new long-term deal with motorcycle giants Harley-Davidson and will be bringing a pay-per-view to their hometown of Milwaukee in August. UFC President Dana White announced on Thursday that the promotion has inked a new contract with…

The UFC has signed a new long-term deal with motorcycle giants Harley-Davidson and will be bringing a pay-per-view to their hometown of Milwaukee in August.

UFC President Dana White announced on Thursday that the promotion has inked a new contract with Harley-Davidson, continuing a long-running partnership between the promotion and the most well known and recognized motorcycle company in the world.

“To celebrate Harley’s 110th anniversary over Labor Day weekend, UFC will be going to Harley’s hometown for the Hometown Throwdown 2013.  We’ll be at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee in Saturday, August 31,” White stated at the UFC 158 pre-fight press conference.

UFC officials later confirmed to Bleacher Report that the event will serve as UFC 164, the company’s second pay-per-view offering in the month of August.

Earlier in the month, UFC 163 will go down with featherweight champion Jose Aldo defending his featherweight title against former WEC lightweight king Anthony Pettis.

The UFC’s trip to Milwaukee will be their second time in the Wisconsin city in the past few years.  The first show was titled UFC on Versus 5 and featured a welterweight showdown between Chris Lytle and Dan Hardy.

The bout actually ended up being Lytle‘s last in the UFC before retirement.  He won by submission in the 3rd round, finishing Hardy with a guillotine choke.

While no bouts or rumors exist as of yet for the pay-per-view card, the UFC will likely start to move in that direction in the coming weeks.

With the main events already locked up for all the major pay-per-view shows all the way through UFC 163 in early August, it probably won’t take long for the promotion to find a top ticket seller to lead the newly announced UFC 164 card in Milwaukee.

The last event held by the UFC at the Bradley Center, which was held on a Sunday, produced a live audience of 6,751 with a live gate of $539,000.  The Bradley Center, when set up for events like wrestling, can hold upwards of 18,000 spectators and also serves as the home to the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Jake Ellenberger Not Sure If He’s the Best Yet but Knows He Can Beat Anybody

It’s taken a little bit of personal resolve from Jake Ellenberger to move past the fact that he’s not facing Johny Hendricks this weekend at UFC 158. The two welterweight contenders were matched up for the upcoming show in Montreal until just a few wee…

It’s taken a little bit of personal resolve from Jake Ellenberger to move past the fact that he’s not facing Johny Hendricks this weekend at UFC 158.

The two welterweight contenders were matched up for the upcoming show in Montreal until just a few weeks ago, when Canadian contender Rory MacDonald suffered a training injury that forced him out of his fight against Carlos Condit.

With an opening to face the last UFC interim welterweight champion, Hendricks jumped at the chance and made the call to face Condit at UFC 158.

Needless to say, Ellenberger was not happy about that choice, but now he’s got a new opponent in Nate Marquardt, and there’s no need to dwell about the past.  Ellenberger knows at some point he will cross paths with Hendricks, it just won’t be this weekend.

“It was definitely frustrating. I’m still looking forward to getting in there with Johny (Hendricks).  That’s the fight I want.  I’m not wasting my time in the sport either, this is my 37th fight I think, and I want to fight the top guys,” Ellenberger stated when speaking to the media on Wednesday.

“Eventually, I’m sure Johny and I will meet.  This week is just focusing on Nate.”

Going into the fight with Hendricks, it’s likely that Ellenberger would have entered as a slight underdog given the current rankings in the UFC.  Now Ellenberger will step into the cage on Saturday as a favorite against former Strikeforce champion Nate Marquardt, who returns to the UFC after a tough loss to Tarec Saffiedine in his last fight.

Regardless of his record, Ellenberger knows just how good Marquardt can be, so looking past him would be a monumental mistake.

“Nate’s not an easy fight for anybody,” Ellenberger said.   “That was the first name they gave me when (Johny) Hendricks got moved so I said okay.  I’ve never turned down a fight.  I feel like if I can beat anybody in the world, I’ve got to prove it.”

That’s the point Ellenberger is out to prove—that he can go with anybody in the world and beat them.  Whether it’s Johny Hendricks, Nate Marquardt or somebody else, Ellenberger is on a mission to get to the top of the division, and he knows to do that, he has to beat everybody put on front of him.

“I don’t know if I’m the best guy in the world right now, but I know I can beat anybody in the world,” said Ellenberger.   “That’s all I need to know.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted

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Johny Hendricks Still Angry over GSP Snub but Won’t Trash Talk to Get Title Shot

Johny Hendricks has built up a lot of angst over the last few months, and he’s got a good reason to be so angry. Over the past year and a half, Hendricks has knocked out former title contender Jon Fitch, defeated Josh Koscheck and picked up another KO …

Johny Hendricks has built up a lot of angst over the last few months, and he’s got a good reason to be so angry.

Over the past year and a half, Hendricks has knocked out former title contender Jon Fitch, defeated Josh Koscheck and picked up another KO over perennial top-ten fighter Martin Kampmann, but finds himself only in the co-main event of UFC 158, while welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre battles Nick Diaz in the headline fight.

Frustration has continued to mount for Hendricks who believes deep in his heart that he did everything right to earn a title shot, yet here he sits on the outside looking in.

“I think it’s my last five fights, I’ve knocked three of them out and two of them have been top-five contenders.  No, I don’t have to do anything else.  I’ve done more than GSP has.  Everybody that they’ve fought, I’ve fought, and I’ve knocked a couple of them out, so I’ve done what I needed to do. I just need my shot,” Hendricks said on Wednesday during the UFC 158 open media workouts.

Instead of facing St-Pierre on Saturday, Hendricks has a very tall order in front of him, as Carlos Condit challenges the former NCAA wrestling champion at UFC 158.

Condit was the last fighter to face St-Pierre, and while he didn’t come out on top, his Round 3 head kick almost sent him home to New Mexico with the welterweight title. 

Hendricks knows beating Condit won’t be easy, but if he does, then there’s no denying him the title shot.

“If I beat Carlos Condit, nobody’s in my way.  GSP can’t hide forever.  I think after this one; I beat Carlos Condit, it’s GSP,” said Hendricks.   “He wanted Nick Diaz, and here I am fighting Carlos Condit, which is an amazing opponent in itself, and I’m excited. If I can beat Carlos Condit, that means I am ready for GSP.”

Hendricks watched first hand as the title shot he believes he earned through fighting ended up in the hands of Nick Diaz, who has apparently gotten under the skin of St-Pierre like no fighter before him. 

The war of words between St-Pierre and Diaz led to their encounter, but Hendricks has no intention of going that route to get a shot at the gold.

The former Oklahoma State All-American wants to get his title shot by hard work and results in the cage, not because he can say something outlandish about his opponent.

Still, he believes deep down that St-Pierre is ducking him because he knows the results of the fight would not end well for him.

“I don’t want to be that kind of douchebag,” Hendricks commented about pre-fight trash talk. “I want to look across the Octagon and say ‘you have not faced anybody like me.’ That’s his main little quote is – ‘You’ve never faced anybody like me.’ 

“Bulls—t, you’ve never faced anybody like me. That’s why he didn’t take the fight.”

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Nick Diaz Chased Georges St-Pierre Around Hotel in 2011, Led to Fight at UFC 158

Everyone has been wondering what Nick Diaz did to get Georges St-Pierre so rattled that he personally called UFC president Dana White to ask him for their main-event fight at UFC 158. Diaz has obviously tried everything under the sun to get under St-Pi…

Everyone has been wondering what Nick Diaz did to get Georges St-Pierre so rattled that he personally called UFC president Dana White to ask him for their main-event fight at UFC 158.

Diaz has obviously tried everything under the sun to get under St-Pierre’s skin, but it’s nothing new for the Canadian champion; GSP has been called out, criticized and insulted by almost every opponent he’s ever faced.

Now, the real incident that caused the rift has been made public by White, and it goes all the way back to 2011 when Diaz called out St-Pierre at UFC 137 following his win over BJ Penn.

White was a guest on the Jim Rome Show on Wednesday, where he told the story of how Diaz literally stalked St-Pierre around the event’s host hotel looking to fight him. For Diaz, it obviously wasn’t about finishing their business in the Octagon.

Nobody has talked about this, I haven’t said anything about it, but at one of the fights, the one where he really starts calling Georges out, he was chasing Georges around the hotel and like yelling at him and stuff. Georges thought he was going to try to fight him in the hotel. He was just waiting for the elevator doors to open and see Nick Diaz.

Like at the last fight where he said all that stuff after his last fight when he said all that stuff about Georges, he was really messing with Georges bad at the fight, like trying to fight him at the hotel. That really pissed Georges off.

White downplayed the reality of Diaz actually fighting St-Pierre in the hotel (although Diaz has fought an opponent in a hospital before), but he said the incident caused the Canadian to snap and work very hard to get a shot at “The Stockton Bad Boy.”

“I don’t think that would ever happen, but Georges St-Pierre felt like it was,” said White. “Georges has said publicly many times when he was younger he used to get bullied. That’s what got him into martial arts. He just has this crazy thing about bullies and he thinks Nick Diaz is a bully.”

St-Pierre has faced criticism over his last five fights for all of them ending in decision, but from the sound of things, he’s focused on not only beating Diaz but obliterating him. 

“Georges St-Pierre, I talked to him last week, he said ‘Dana, you have no idea what I’m going to do to this kid, I wanna make him retire’,” said White.

St-Pierre gets his chance on Saturday night in Montreal at UFC 158.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com