Welterweight fighter Johny Hendricks (9-0) isn’t interested in maintaining his perfect record, he realizes that anyone can be beaten, and it’s with that mentality that he’ll step into the octagon to face Rick Story at The Ultimate Fighter 12: Finale on December 4th.
For Hendricks his upcoming fight against Story is more than just about progression to the UFC belt, it’s about keeping his job despite his 9-0 record.
“Like I always say, anyone can be beat at anytime. Back then, I got to the stage where I thought I couldn’t be beat. I couldn’t be beat, and then it happened. And that’s when I took a step back and said don’t worry about records or rankings. You have one goal and in wrestling that’s to be the national champion. I fell one match short of that my senior year, but, the fight game I’m zero-zero every fight, until I hit the spot I want to hit. And that’s to be the UFC champion. That’s my whole goal. But honestly each fight I’m fighting to stay in the UFC. That’s the way I look at, ‘if I lose this match I might get cut,’ so I go in there every time fighting for my life.”
The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale will feature the first of the lighter fighters from the WEC-UFC merger and will put the pressure on many to perform or risk the threat of being cut from the promotion.
Hendricks is 4-0 since moving from the WEC in March of 2009. Since then he’s gone on to defeat Amir Sadollah at UFC 101, Ricardo Funch at UFC 107, TJ Grant at UFC 113, and recently, Charlie Brenneman at UFC 117.
Check out the full interview with Hendricks at UFC.com.