While Georges St-Pierre soaks up the Hollywood spotlight, Johny Hendricks will be sweating in training camp, preparing for the biggest fight of his MMA career.
At UFC 158, Hendricks defeated Carlos Condit to solidify himself as the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division.
Unfortunately, a fight with Hendricks doesn’t appear to be a top priority on St-Pierre’s agenda.
It was recently announced by Latino Review that the UFC welterweight champ had accepted the role of Batroc the Leaper in the upcoming Marvel comic film Captain America: Winter Soldier. The film, which has already begun production, is slated for a 2014 release, and it will require St-Pierre to spend some time away from fighting.
Hendricks recently made a guest appearance on Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show, where he talked about the difficulties of waiting around for a title shot:
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s getting irritating that stuff keeps popping up, but you’ve got to keep your cool because whenever I do get to face Georges St. Pierre, if I don’t keep a level head now, whenever I go out to fight him, you might be so amped up and ready to fight, you can’t think about what you’re supposed to do in the Octagon because of all the things that have happened.”
Hendricks should be commended for keeping a cool head amid all of the drama he has been subjected to in the welterweight division.
He was originally believed to be the top contender at UFC 158, but Nick Diaz was the one fighting for the title. Despite being leapfrogged in the title picture, Hendricks never made a big deal out of the situation.
He went on and defeated Condit to reinforce the fact that he is the rightful No. 1 contender for the UFC title.
It has yet to be announced how long filming is expected to last for St-Pierre. On top of that, you have to factor in the time he will need to put together a decent training camp.
There is also the chance he passes on the fight altogether and moves up to middleweight for a superfight with Anderson Silva.
The only thing Hendricks can do at this point is train. He has come to the realization that everything else is out of his control:
“What I have to do is, I just have to sit back and relax and say, ‘Hey, I can’t control that.’ The only thing I can control now is that I am the No. 1 contender. I can go into the gym. While he’s doing a movie, I’m going to be training for GSP.”
Irony would smile bitterly on Hendricks if Batroc the Leaper is the sole reason for him being passed over once again for a UFC title shot.
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