At various points during Georges St-Pierre’s title reign in the welterweight division, claims have been made that the Canadian had cleaned out the division. However, with the champion out of action recovering from ACL surgery, that’s anything but the case.
One of the men stating his case for a crack at UFC gold is Johny Hendricks.
With his decision win over former title challenger Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3, the former national champion wrestler ran his record to 13-1, with eight of those victories coming inside the Octagon.
Although his win over Koscheck may not have been as convincing as his 12-second destruction of Jon Fitch late last year, Hendricks became the only man not named St-Pierre to defeat both of those fighters.
Hendricks possesses a well-rounded skill set that allows him to stand and trade with his opponents or take the fight to the mat when he wants to. That mix may very well be the recipe for dethroning St-Pierre.
Unfortunately, with the champion out until at least November, Hendricks is in a difficult spot. First off, interim champion Carlos Condit is already at the front of the line. Couple that with if Jake Ellenberger gets past Martin Kampmann next month, Ellenberger also has a strong case for a title shot.
So what’s the solution?
Rather than have Hendricks sit out until early 2013 for the St-Pierre vs. Condit winner, he should be matched up with the Ellenberger vs. Kampmann winner. That would leave no argument as to who should be challenging for the belt.
Certainly Hendricks has the resume to claim No. 1 contender status, but under the circumstances he may not have a choice but to fight again and cement that claim.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, follow him on Twitter.
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