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MMA Meets Boxing: Looking at Dana White’s ‘The Fighters’

And so it begins.Or, perhaps it should be said: “And so it has finally happened.”As a longtime proponent of MMA, it is an often forgotten fact (dismissed as a notion of comfortable equitability, toward the end of granting a kind of safe har…

And so it begins.

Or, perhaps it should be said: “And so it has finally happened.”

As a longtime proponent of MMA, it is an often forgotten fact (dismissed as a notion of comfortable equitability, toward the end of granting a kind of safe harbor from which to criticize the sport of boxing) that Dana White has said, time and again, that he is still a fan of professional boxing.

MMA fans dismiss this as simply the kind of statement a critic posits in order to afford himself a position of validity before engaging in harsh criticism. After all, White is the president of the UFC, the biggest MMA organization on planet Earth.

But it looks like he was not simply cloaking himself as a boxing fan in order to give his criticisms of boxing more “credibility.” White looks to be putting his money where his mouth is by producing The Fighters, a reality television show that showcases the sport of boxing, on what appears to be an amateur level, in his hometown of Boston, according to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.

And it looks glorious.

Granted, as a longtime boxing fan, I take exception to anyone who claims that the heart of boxing has always been in Boston—when I truly believe it has been in Philadelphia—but given the daring of the project, I am simply splitting hairs.

The Fighters looks to be all the things The Contender wasn’t, for the simple reason that it tackles the sport at the most fundamental (i.e., relatable) level.

Reality television has always seen promotion based around “a hook,” which is to say there had to be an angle by which to hook the viewers at home—some aspect that made it must-see television. More often than not, watching men slug it out with boxing gloves and head gear missed the mark; it made it look like nothing more than men “playing” at being fighters.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When it comes to the sport of boxing, there is always a profound need behind the deed; headgear isn’t required because this is “Little League,” it’s needed because most amateur boxers do not yet possess the defensive skills needed to defend them against the full venom found in the punches of their opponent.

Boxing has always been and always will be a sport where the greatest practitioners are those men and women who can hit without being hit in return; it isn’t bumper cars out there, it’s blunt force trauma, and as an amateur, you need that headgear, just like Floyd Mayweather Jr. needed it in the beginning and just as all professionals use it in sparring today.

But that is one of the greatest aspects of The Fighters. It puts boxing on the line, exposed, raw nerves and all, which is something The Contender never did.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved The Contender for countless reasons; but I am a fight fan and have been since 1973 or ’74. I was raised on the combative sports, so it’s much like falling in love with a familiar song, like Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” or “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

But The Fighters looks as if the aim is to pull you into the world where the only things that keep you safe are that boxy, clumsy looking headgear, those typical-looking corner men, that dull looking referee. It forces you to put your trust in the unknown, based on a belief in the unseen (or in the case of the amateur, that which cannot be easily identified or quantified).

In other words, it introduces you to all the strangeness in a strange land; it touches that which is factual and necessary with a needle while letting the fiction drift away into pleasing memory, unharmed yet rightfully downsized by necessity.

While it is far too soon to predict success, The Fighters looks to have all the necessary components needed to show fight fans of all stripes the beauty and the beast fighters confront every time they slip through the ropes of the fabled squared circle.

Yet, as a fan of both MMA and boxing, I cannot help but be excited.

Boxing has always been an unforgiving sport, but in the midst of all that is wrong with it as a whole, there is something very noble and pure about a young man slipping through the ropes to square off against an opponent; they aren’t doing it for the money, because the money isn’t there at that level.

They’re doing it because, as Joyce Carol Oates explains in her book, On Boxing:

Each boxing match is a story—a unique and highly condensed drama without words. Even when nothing sensational happens: then the drama is “merely” psychological. Boxers are there to establish an absolute experience, a public accounting of the outermost limits of their beings; they will know, as few of us can know of ourselves, what physical and psychic power they possess—of how much, or how little, they are capable.

In a world where reality television seems anything but real, The Fighters looks like it may be an honest, crystalline actualization of what it means to be, or not to be, a boxer.

As always, that really is the question, always has been the question: to be or not to be a fighter? That’s why they slip through the ropes to begin with.

Because it’s only in the ring that they will find their answer.

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Theater of the Bizarre: Glorious Fights That Never Could Have Happened, Pt. II

Forget, if you can, that sad and limited group of considerations that say two fighters from different sports and weight classes can never meet in anger. Disregard the idea that says, “It would never happen because…”
This kind of thinking …

This kind of thinking has no place in the Theater of the Bizarre.

Instead, once again, let your imagination run wild. This is a stage where fights unfold due to the virtue of violence, and two authors come together to do their worst to each other, just to see who is best.

Of course, there is always at least one caveat per fight. Perhaps it is the size of the gloves or the duration of the rounds. Perhaps it is the number of rounds, the venue or even the application of rules that reign in contrast to the combatants.

At least one circumstance always prevails amid the chaos.

The bout in question this evening? The legendary Mike Tyson, rejuvenated and resurrected from his most glorious and violent past, faces Junior dos Santos. The action is called in typical play-by-play style.

Mike Tyson vs. Junior dos Santos

Caveats: Four-ounce gloves; 12 rounds; three minutes per round; no grappling on the ground; takes place in the legendary Blue Horizon.

Advantages for Tyson: Speed, punching power, defensive skills, aggression, explosiveness.

Advantages for Dos Santos: Heart, reach advantage, size advantage, elbows, knees and kicks.

It’s a brutally cold night in Philadelphia, with a wind-chill factor that lowers the temperature well below freezing. The snow feels like sand across your face as you make your way up the front steps and into one of the true hallmark locations for the sport of boxing, the legendary Blue Horizon.

Inside, the temperature is warm, and the crowd is anxious for the fight to begin. This is the Blue Horizon, after all, where the crowd has high expectations for aggression.

Larry Merchant, a Philadelphia standard, is in attendance, but the rest of the crowd is a motley crew. The balcony level of the Horizon extends almost to the parameter of the ring, and if you lean over the rail, you can almost spit onto the canvas or throw whatever is in your hand.

It is a sobering sight to see a prime Mike Tyson pacing about the cage. This isn’t the same fighter who lost his desire and with it all sense of dedication to training and discipline. This is the young Tyson who ripped through the heavyweight division with shockingly fast hands, brutal punching power and unbridled aggression.

This is the Tyson who was the full realization of all the virtues that Cus D’Amato felt made a fighter great.

Across the small ring stands Junior dos Santos, looking grim and determined in the face of such an eager crowd. He, too, is pacing, perhaps not as much as Tyson, but he is moving and seems fully aware of the task in front of him.

It is a big one.

Dos Santos wanted to fight a great boxer because, as Merchant put it: “He has the daring that is required of all true fighters. He isn’t just talking the talk, he’s walking the walk, and that brought him all the way to Philadelphia in the heart of a snow storm. He wanted to test his boxing skills against a dangerous opponent, and tonight he gets his wish.”

While Tyson is expected to be the faster fighter, Dos Santos is clearly the bigger man in the ring, which becomes clear when the referee calls them to the center. Dos Santos looks to be about six inches taller than Tyson and has six inches in reach over the Brooklyn-born legend. Yet, despite the size advantage, one cannot help but stare in horror at those incredibly small gloves that surround the granite fists of Tyson.

Both men touch gloves and go to their separate corners. Dos Santos is bouncing in place, ready to go. Tyson stares at him, emotionless, with his fists together right below his chin.

The crowd is going insane as the bell is about to ring…

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TUF: 6 Coaches Who Could Be Great for ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

For the longest time, the formula for The Ultimate Fighter has been fairly simple as far as who winds up as the coaches. The UFC chooses two fighters who can meet at the end of the season for a pay-per-view bout that makes sense in their division.
Duri…

For the longest time, the formula for The Ultimate Fighter has been fairly simple as far as who winds up as the coaches. The UFC chooses two fighters who can meet at the end of the season for a pay-per-view bout that makes sense in their division.

During the show, they coach opposite each other toward developing a rivalry that serves as a preamble to their eventual clash. Along the way, a group of new fighters undergo the high-level training that is needed to compete in the UFC.

This formula has worked for countless seasons because it is simple. More often than not, everyone is pointed in the same direction and working toward the same goal.

But throughout it all, it has always seemed, at least to me, that the sense of a real MMA-style camp has been absent. Some fighters find the mantle of head coach puts them above the men who, under all normal circumstances, are their head coaches at home.

Has this been a detriment? Probably not; these fighters usually use what has always worked for them, as the blueprints for training are passed from hand to hand.

Still, I have often wondered what a season of TUF would look like if “real” coaches and their teams were used. The contestants would be pulled into a true MMA camp alongside current UFC fighters who go through it all, right beside them, all answering to one leader.

In the spirit of exploration, I give you six men who would be great coaches for The Ultimate Fighter, with a specific idea as to their pairings.

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Nick Diaz’s Refusal to Fight Puts His Legacy in Jeopardy

It has been approximately eight months since Nick Diaz decided to step away from the sport after being defeated by Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158. After he voiced his decision, he went on to say he might come back for the right fight(s), which seems to t…

In a recent interview with FightersOnlyMag.com, Diaz laid it out simply.

We could negotiate. I am a pretty big draw. So we would have to negotiate a pretty decent amount of pay and a pretty decent amount from the pay-per-view. I’m talking like three to five dollars [per PPV unit sold] the same as these other important fighters are getting, because I am out there putting on a show.

While there have been rumors that Diaz was offered a fight from Dana White, Diaz is currently representing himself and says he has not been contacted directly by White or anyone empowered to negotiate his return within the Zuffa ranks (h/t FightersOnlyMag.com).

I’ve not had a manager since my last fight. I would like people to know that I was never offered any fight [recently]. I haven’t had a manager, I told Dana that I didn’t want anyone representing me after what happened with my last training camp…

And so it goes for Diaz, one of the most exciting fighters in the game, sitting on his hands via decision and circumstance. What is the most troubling thing is that he is happy to do so.

In the past, I have compared Diaz to Arturo Gatti due to his willingness to engage in toe-to-toe brawls and his dependability for excitement. I felt it was an honest and just comparison because both were truly cut from the same blood-and-guts cloth.

But perhaps I was too hasty.

It is odd that there are more similarities between Diaz and Gatti. For instance, in the storied career of Gatti, he really only fought two really big names: Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Diaz, for his part, has really only faced one big name so far: Georges St-Pierre.

The difference between them is that Gatti was always working to get right back up on the horse because he knew that activity is one of the key ingredients of career longevity. Fighters need to stay active in order to stay sharp.

No one expected Diaz to be happy after losing his fight to St-Pierre, but no one expected him to try and strong-arm the sport by saying he was going to retire unless some big fights were put in front of him.

Gatti, for his part, took the De La Hoya fight and the big money that came with it, fought hard, got badly beat up, cried a little bit then got right back out there and started looking for his next fight. The reason for this was because Gatti loved fighting.

Diaz, it seems, is not fighting because he loves it, but because he wants to get paid.

Now, obviously, there is nothing wrong with that. There are many different fighters out there with different motivations, and more than a few great fighters were fighting for money alone.

But Diaz isn’t making money now; he’s spending it, slowly but surely, and he’s growing older and rusty each day that passes.

If Diaz expects that each and every fight he has from now on is going to be a big fight against a big name (men like St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, etc.), then he hasn’t been paying that much attention to the sport he chose to make his living.

He’s signed to the biggest organization in mixed martial arts, and they use a system, more often than not. Granted, Chael Sonnen has talked his way into one big fight he did not deserve, but since then he’s been fighting whoever is put in front of him.

However, when looking at how Sonnen got into the position to fight Jon Jones, you see that a fair amount of that was based on his fights with Anderson Silva. In short, Sonnen was taking advantage of opportunities while still being active.

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece where I said Diaz is worth the extra money. I still believe that as well—but only for as long as Diaz is active and willing to fight. If he wants to get paid three to five dollars per PPV unit sold, he needs to get back out there and start fighting again.

Honestly, did he really expect the UFC to set him up with back-to-back fights with St-Pierre (again) and maybe Anderson Silva? Diaz lost his last two fights, and odds are he would not defeat St-Pierre in a rematch, just like he probably wouldn’t last three rounds with Silva.

A string of victories is needed before Diaz can be in a position to rightfully request big money for a big fight, especially since big fights don’t happen all the time.

There are men out there, like Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler, that would make for some very exciting fights for Diaz. He might not be getting paid superstar money for those fights, but they are winnable bouts for him that could pave the way to those big fights.

I said before that if the UFC wants to make money, they need to spend some money, and I said they needed to spend that money on Diaz.

But there is another side to that; if Diaz wants to make big money, he needs to spend the time, in the cage, creating the demand. No company likes to give away big money; if you want to get them to loosen their grip on their wallet you need to make it as easy for them as possible.

In the case of Nick Diaz, that is done by fighting the guys like Brown and Lawler and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Fighters are only marketable when they are fighting, with their legacy empowered by action.

Until Diaz decides to throw his hat back into the cage, fans can always re-watch his fight with Takanori Gomi on Youtube, for free.

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Georges St-Pierre: Yes, He Really Does Owe It to the Sport

I have no idea what goes on in the minds of great fighters like Georges St-Pierre as they sit backstage, battered, bleeding and bruised, getting their gloves cut off their hands after a tough decision victory.It has to be a terribly surreal situation,&…

It has to be a terribly surreal situation, rife with joys and demands the normal person will never know; such is the life of a professional combatant. They fight in front of 15,000 or more in the arenas (if they are lucky) and if Mars is very kind, they fight in front of millions on pay-per-view.

And let’s be honest, Mars has been very kind to St-Pierre.

A multi-millionaire many times over, St-Pierre has just notched his ninth defense of his UFC welterweight title, making him the greatest welterweight champion in the company’s history. It’s a staggering feat truly reflective of a man who, not all that long ago, dropped to his knees and begged the UFC to give him a title shot.

But now, after a hard-fought battle with Johny Hendricks, he is talking about taking some time off for personal reasons. Obviously, he has a right to walk away from the sport, without a doubt—just not right now.

Yes, it sounds harsh as hell, but St-Pierre knew what he was getting into when he dropped to his knees and begged for a chance to fight Matt Hughes for the throne. Well, he got it, and once you get the crown, there are demands that come with the title—and make no mistake about it, when you become king, you are in service of the sport until you are defeated or until you retire.

If St-Pierre had wanted to retire after his fight with Koscheck or Shields, then no one would have said much, nor should they have. To be sure, this isn’t about St-Pierre having the right to gather unto himself his own body and soul for the means of healing, because he has that right, and no one is trying to take that from him.

People are crying out that Dana White is this unreasonable, demanding, greedy jackass who is just singling out St-Pierre for unfair treatment, just because he can.

This, of course, is wrong on many levels.

When Randy Couture defended his UFC heavyweight crown for the very first time, against Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31, fans were treated to an incredibly close fight that left both men badly battered. Couture ended up getting a unanimous decision victory that surprised many, including Couture himself.

White then went on to schedule an immediate rematch between both men (at UFC 34), because the sport needed a definitive answer as to who was really the best.

Couture, having spent weeks on the sofa, unable to walk because his leg had swollen many times its normal size (thanks to countless leg kicks from Rizzo), got off said sofa and went back to training.

He wasn’t doing it because he agreed with White, and he wasn’t doing it because he thought he lost and needed to prove something to himself.

Couture stated he didn’t think there was a need for a rematch since all three judges had given him a close decision victory. But he did it anyway because that’s what the fans wanted—and what they were wanting was certainty.

They wanted to know, for sure, who the king really was: In Round 1, it looked like Couture, but in Round 2, it looked like Rizzo, and the rest of the rounds were a toss-up, with Round 5 looking like it belonged to Rizzo.

So, Couture fought Rizzo again and crushed all doubts as to who was the better fighter by beating Rizzo down for three straight rounds until the fight was called.

This, of course, is but one of many examples of when White took on the mantle of bad guy in order to ensure that the sport got what it needed. He made Frankie Edgar rematch BJ Penn, then he made Edgar rematch Gray Maynard. Then, when Benson Henderson narrowly took the title from Edgar, he made Henderson rematch Edgar.

Why? Because the sport needed to know, for sure, who the king really was.

Now, do not mistake me; I do not think that White’s every whim is what is in keeping with the true needs of the sport, nor do I think he is right all the time. I could go on all day about how I feel that he has, bit by bit, started to act as if the sport is there to serve him instead of vice versa.

But calling for St-Pierre to put aside any talk of a sabbatical in order to give Hendricks an immediate rematch? That isn’t White being selfish or uncaring; that is White just being reflective of the demands that come with wearing the greatest title in MMA: the UFC belt.

In short, that is White being necessarily harsh and absolutely correct.

Maybe he should have called for Jon Jones to give Alexander Gustafsson an immediate rematch (I think he should have, especially for the sake of consistency), but that is a different fight and a different division. Right now, he is calling for St-Pierre to fight Johny Hendricks once again, and unless St-Pierre is going to retire, he should answer the call with vigor.

Let us not forget that the welterweight title has already seen one interim champion during St-Pierre’s reign, and that was just last year. For a period of 10 months, Carlos Condit was the interim UFC welterweight champion while St-Pierre was on the sidelines, healing a bad leg injury and wondering if he even wanted to come back.

Now, just two fights after reclaiming the throne, he wants to go on vacation?

If St-Pierre is having issues in his life that are of a serious nature and are simply demanding his undivided attention right now, then he should retire. God knows the man has earned it.

But if this is just a matter of indecision or anxiety in the face of the complexities of a life ongoing, then he needs to fight.

His chosen vocation is that of a professional combatant, and as such, he has been utterly blessed with the right combination of skills, athleticism, coaching, dedication, desire, fortitude and, perhaps above all else, opportunity, to reach the highest level; that of UFC champion.

No one is saying he can’t retire if he wants to. That is his right, and I have no doubt White would respect it, given how important St-Pierre has been for the growth of the sport in Canada, not to mention how consistently St-Pierre has stepped up and delivered against the best of the best in a terribly competitive division.

But there is a big difference between retirement and taking a “time out” from a sport that is running 365 days a year.

We should all give him just a little while to clear his head after such a fight; he’s earned that, 1,000 times over. Hendricks hurt him many times and according to one judge out of three, honestly defeated him.

This wasn’t just a fight—it was a true title fight, and St-Pierre barely bested a man who confounded his detractors (those who said he was sure to gas after three rounds) and rose to the occasion, giving his all for five full rounds toward one end:

For the chance to become champion.

St-Pierre emerged on the other side of that fight as the victor, and to the victor go the spoils: the money, the fame, the legacy of greatness and so much more.

All of these things St-Pierre has earned—save the right to hold the title hostage.

Mr. St-Pierre, you have fought honorably and fought incredibly well for 44 rounds since defeating your conqueror, Matt Serra, some 80 months ago. You have always stepped up and faced the best opposition available, without question, and your dominance has never been in question, your title never in true jeopardy, until this last weekend.

To say you have been a superlative champion is honest and just, and I say that without question or reservation. Of all the past UFC welterweight champions—men such as the great Pat Miletich, your countryman Carlos Newton (the first ever Canadian UFC champion), two-time champion Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Carlos Condit—no one has done it better than you.

But you are being rightfully called upon, once again, to represent the best interests of the greatest title in mixed martial arts: that of UFC champion.

Step up, or step aside.

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UFC 167: Johny Hendricks, the Man Who Would Be King

While all the talk swarming around UFC 167 focuses on Georges St-Pierre, Johny Hendricks stands at stage left, poised and ready, just waiting for his cue to step to the center of it all and take for himself that which no one can really give.
If you ask…

If you ask most of the fans, they say the champion is simply too good, smart or athletic to be defeated by a one-trick pony like Hendricks. They will regale you with a foe-by-foe analysis of the victims whom GSP has defeated in the past, using each one to illustrate why Hendricks doesn’t stand a chance.

For the fans, it is as simple as paperwork. It’s not a contest anymore; it’s academic. St-Pierre has managed to take what should be a fight and turn it into a contest of position; his is a probing kind of offense that is meant to offset an opponent’s rhythm while also allowing the champ to dictate the pace.

They say Hendricks doesn’t possess the conditioning needed to go five rounds with the champion. They don’t think he can stop St-Pierre’s takedowns. They point out that Hendricks has never faced anyone like St-Pierre, and because of this, he will be undone and leave just the way he arrived: empty-handed.

It is no secret what St-Pierre does: He will attempt to stick a stiff jab into Hendricks’ face all night long while circling and looking for the takedown. This game plan has served him so well in the past that he has no reason to change anything.

And amid all the talk about how great St-Pierre is, Hendricks is standing in the same position as so many others—the next in line.

Is it as simple as everyone is saying? Or is there more to it than a matter of history repeating itself?

St-Pierre—ever the kind and humble champion—constantly says that his next opponent is the most dangerous one he has faced. He’s saying the same thing about Hendricks now, but when you look at the men that the champion has turned away, you see a list of very good fighters who in any other organization would be (or have been) champions.

So what does Hendricks bring to the table that is so different?

He stands an inch shorter than the champion and will be at a reach disadvantage of approximately seven inches. He has managed to overcome reach disadvantages in the past but never against anyone with a jab as good as St-Pierre’s, so that is going to be a problem.

Also, many of Hendricks’ victims have been knocked out early or fought him with little in the way of a game plan. St-Pierre and his trainers are going to be coming in focused and with stratagems designed to take away Hendricks’ advantages while maximizing their own.

He may have caught other fighters unaware, but now everyone knows who he is and what he can do. Team GSP has no doubt watched his knockout victories over Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann hundreds of times. If he was hoping to surprise the champion, that ship has already sailed.

If one thing about St-Pierre makes him so hard to stop, it’s his fear of defeat. In many ways, he is like Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both champions fear no one put in front of them. Instead, they fear the faceless specter of defeat. That is what makes them train so hard, and that is why they never stray from their game plans.

But no two men are alike—it is never as easy as history would have us believe.

Hendricks is the shortest wrestling-based fighter whom St-Pierre has ever had to face—save perhaps for Sean Sherk—which may (or may not) make it harder for the champion to get in deep on his takedowns.

In addition, Hendricks is a compact fighter, staying tight while working his way inside to either get a takedown or land power punches from up close. He has a near-perfect base for his aggressive style of fighting.

Another possible advantage is that he is a southpaw. In theory, nearly every weapon a southpaw uses can be used against him, but that is rarely the case for one main reason—the southpaw has far more experience of facing conventional fighters than conventional fighters have of facing southpaws.

The basics of striking say that when facing a southpaw, you must keep your lead foot on the outside, and you must circle to your left, away from the southpaw’s left hand. It sounds easy but rarely is, especially when you consider that one of the most damaging weapons is the southpaw right hook, which lands because the conventional fighter doesn’t see it coming.

Obviously, St-Pierre will be as ready as a conventional fighter can be in facing a southpaw, but the best way for him to nullify that is to go for takedowns. Engaging a southpaw in anything resembling a prolonged exchange—punch for punch, combo for combo—almost always sees the conventional fighter at a disadvantage.

So, it all returns to the takedown. The last time that St-Pierre faced a southpaw, he fought Frank Trigg. GSP ripped through him by attacking fearlessly and then scoring the takedown. While it was an impressive performance, it was also a long time ago, and Hendricks is a much different fighter than Trigg.

And lastly, Hendricks possesses power in his hands. Many may dismiss this threat, saying that St-Pierre has dealt with this kind of fighter before in the persons of Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck, but that is a drastic simplification of things.

Hendricks is by far the hardest puncher that St-Pierre has faced during his reign. Should he land that left hand flush, chances are high that St-Pierre will fall and may not get back up. Coupled with his southpaw style, Hendricks’ power could force St-Pierre into a takedown-heavy attack, which in turn would leech a great deal of unpredictability out of his style.

And if Hendricks can keep St-Pierre moving backward and totally committed to defending against that massive straight left hand, he may be able to score some takedowns of his own.

Hendricks is in an ideal position: He’s the underdog who has nearly no pressure on his shoulders. He’s expected to lose by the masses who think St-Pierre can do everything, and he has fight-ending power in his punches, which means he’ll be in the fight until the very end.

And if he can stuff the champ’s takedowns, he might be able to dictate the pace. In that scenario, a stiff jab and some crisp leg kicks from St-Pierre aren’t going to keep Hendricks at bay for long.

But all of these elements—the advantages of St-Pierre and the advantages of Hendricks—are secondary to the question that reigns above all: Who wants it more?

Hendricks has everything to gain in this fight: The championship is officially up for grabs on Saturday. But he must fight every second of every minute of every round; too many other fighters have come out thinking that St-Pierre would be as reserved and boyish in the cage as he is behind the microphone, and they paid for the mistake.

If he wants to be king, he’s must take the throne by force.

Anything less won’t get it done.

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