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GSP vs. Hendricks: Biggest Keys to Welterweight Title Fight at UFC 167

Georges St-Pierre is set to defend his UFC welterweight championship against Johny Hendricks, who’s been on quite a roll over the past couple years. The No. 1 contender’s power provides plenty of intrigue for the main event of UFC 167.
The Canadian sup…

The Canadian superstar has been dominant in his own right, of course. He’s always possessed an amazing amount of talent. Since he gained experience and learned how to manage a fight, he’s become virtually unstoppable.

Hendricks can take his career to the next level with a win Saturday night, but the previous eight challengers had the same opportunity and came up short. So let’s check out the biggest key for each fighter heading into the marquee bout.

St-Pierre: Defend and Counter

Hendricks poses an interesting challenge for St-Pierre. Even though “Rush” has faced practically every type of fighter during his time in the UFC, including power punchers like the American, few have sported the knockout ability of the current No. 1 contender.

It’s no secret Hendricks has a left hand capable of changing any fight in the blink of an eye. St-Pierre certainly understands that and must be ready to defend from the outset, because the underdog is going to come out searching for the opportunity to land a haymaker.

So St-Pierre will have to lean on his versatility. His task early in the fight will be finding a way to safely neutralize that power. Most likely, that means using his quickness to weave in and out while delivering inside jabs to wear Hendricks down.

Once he feels comfortable moving in safely, he can start to turn it into more of a technical fight with some wrestling. The more he’s able to make Hendricks work, the less power he’s going to have in that left hand in the latter rounds.

St-Pierre can afford to take a defensive approach, even if it means splitting the first few rounds, because after that, he should be able to take control. He just has to avoid taking a huge strike early on.

Hendricks: Don’t Shy Away from Risk

Too many opponents get their chance at St-Pierre and then let the champion dictate the fight. And once he gains control of a bout, he rarely relinquishes it, as illustrated by the six straight unanimous decision victories in title defenses.

Hendricks has too much knockout potential to let that happen. He can afford to let this become a grind-it-out type of encounter. He has to do his best to push the pace, thereby giving himself more looks to score the upset.

Of course, in order to do that, he will need to take some risks. He’ll open himself up to counterattacks, and being as complete of a fighter as St-Pierre is, he could very well take advantage. But there’s no blueprint to beating the champion, so it comes down to picking the right spots to take a chance.

Hendricks should come out aggressive and do everything possible to force St-Pierre into his fast-paced, heavy-hitting kind of fight. There’s no guarantee it’s going to work, but it represents his best chance to pull off the upset.

Even if it’s not enough to get the win, he’ll at least be able to say he went down fighting instead of playing right into St-Pierre’s hands like so many fighters have in the past.

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UFC 167: Hendricks Has the Skill and Power to Take Down St. Pierre

Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks will square off for the welterweight title on Saturday night at UFC 167, and even though St. Pierre has successfully defended his title belt 10 consecutive times, Hendricks has the skill set and overwhelming power…

In his second-straight title defense against a southpaw fighter, St. Pierre must be prepared for the power that Hendricks, a two-time NCAA champion wrestler, will be throwing his way. The left hand of Hendricks will be what decides this bout.

Hendricks obviously uses his left hand to deliver thunderous blows. He generates so much power from the left side of his body that St. Pierre will still feel the force should he block the jab or cross. He isn’t a one-dimensional fighter, though.

Hendricks uses his right hand as well, and he’ll use it in this fight to check the jabs of GSP. Being able to go to his right and check GSP will give him an advantage over other fighters who attempted to take the welterweight title away.

That being said, if Hendricks wants to win, he needs to look for the knockout with a well-placed left. He generates so much power that a solid blow would surely knock down St. Pierre. Even as a collegiate wrestler, Hendricks doesn’t have the chops to win this bout if it becomes a battle on the ground.

Hendricks relies on his ability to get back on his feet after being taken down, and he doesn’t possess exceptional skills at keeping his opponents down. Sure, he might be able to steal a few body shots while grappling on the mat, but Hendricks holds the striking advantage and needs to capitalize on it.

Against Carlos Condit in March, Hendricks showed great awareness and strategy in waiting for his opportunities to strike. When up against the fence, Condit would look to send knees toward the upper body of Hendricks.

Hendricks took a good portion of those, but he also countered with strong left hands when Condit recoiled. Expect him to take a similar approach against GSP.

When St. Pierre delivers strikes or kicks, look for Hendricks to do his best to counter with what he does best. It won’t be particularly easy to get close enough to St. Pierre to deliver the knock out punch, but Hendricks’ strategy will give him the opportunity to counter and deliver a fatal blow.

If nothing else, Hendricks seems to be in the proper mindset heading into the title bout. At the pre-fight press conference on November 14, Hendricks told everyone in attendance that he’s ready for St. Pierre (via SportsNet): “My mind is to kill him. I mean not in that sense, but it’s to beat him, to demolish him. I want to win where he doesn’t want to fight me again.”

Words won’t be what wins the fight, but Hendricks’ mindset entering the match will have him hungry and out for blood.

Should he (intelligently) enact his counter-strategy and look to deliver strong lefts when opportunities arise, Hendricks has a real shot at taking down GSP. His ability to check jabs with his right will be key, though.

If Hendricks begins to neglect the jabs of St. Pierre, then the body shots will add up and eventually take their toll on him. The champion wrestler will need to stay within himself, take the fight round by round and capitalize on opportunities when GSP lets his guard down.

That seems to be the strategy for every opponent against one of the UFC’s best fighters, but Hendricks will put up the strongest fight against GSP yet. Don’t be surprised when he wins the welterweight title.

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St-Pierre vs. Hendricks Predictions: How Could the Fight End?

Going into any fight, people can’t wait to argue over how it could end. Who’s fighting and where are almost irrelevant when it comes down to a boisterous debate between pals over who’ll end up face down on the canvas on a Saturday night.
Well, Georges …

Well, Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks are the “who’s fighting” portion of this age-old argument, and the “where” is Las Vegas for UFC 167. You’ll have to provide your own pals with whom to debate, but the finish discussion is as alive as it’s ever been going into Saturday’s main event.

Let’s throw decisions out the window for a minute. Modern MMA is rife with judges who don’t know an armbar from a crowbar, and the result can be some bizarre scorecard tabulations after 25 minutes of action.

Plus, anyone in the world who thinks Georges St-Pierre will lose a fight by decision in this lifetime is out of his mind. No safer bet than GSP by decision exists in the sport.

But finishes—finishes are another story.

It’s no secret how the challenger is best equipped to become a champion: He needs to swing for the fences with his left hand and hope he connects with St-Pierre’s jaw. If he does that, he’ll end the fight the same way he did against Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann, and he’ll get a big gold belt for his troubles.

Across the cage, St-Pierre will seek his first finish since the first Obama inauguration in this, his attempt at nine straight title defenses. That one was a TKO of B.J. Penn via doctor stoppage, but it’s unlikely he’ll repeat such a feat against Hendricks.

Realistically the champion has the advantage everywhere other than raw power, so his tools to finish are more varied as well. He’s a high-level grappler and Olympic-caliber wrestler with varied striking and an increasingly pure boxing game. He could take Hendricks down and work for a submission, or he could pound away until something solid connects and he scores a TKO.

Not that either is likely, given St-Pierre’s proclivity for putting the judges to work, but those are his options.

With those points considered—Hendricks’ one-shot power and GSP‘s various weapons to finish—there’s really only one question to ask: How does it end?

That’s a matter of opinion, and while GSP by decision is the clear favorite, there might be something to be said for a surprise St-Pierre finish here. He’s been grinning like the Cheshire Cat all week talking about something that’s changed in his training, and it’s not a great leap to think that it could be a technical alteration that closed a hole in his game.

Remember this? That’s pretty much a three-inch adjustment that turns a 50-43 judge’s decision into a textbook armbar finish. Maybe it’s something similar that, between training himself and studying Hendricks, the champion sees as a window of opportunity.

Regardless, in a sport like MMA, there are so many outcomes that it’s almost impossible to nail down only one.

Look for it to end by decision with the champion retaining, but don’t rule it out that GSP has a trick up his sleeve to finally break his scorecard streak.

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UFC 167 Start Time: When and Where to Watch St-Pierre vs Hendricks

With little over 24 hours left before the start of UFC 167, the 20th anniversary fight card put together by MMA’s preeminent fight promotion, the excitement shared by combat sports fans is almost palpable.
Tensions between welterweight champion Georges…

With little over 24 hours left before the start of UFC 167, the 20th anniversary fight card put together by MMA‘s preeminent fight promotion, the excitement shared by combat sports fans is almost palpable.

Tensions between welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks are nearing their limits. There’s little doubt that tomorrow night’s main event will be worthy of the occasion.

Nevertheless, though the evening may focus on the title fight, UFC 167 is stacked from stem to stern.

Let’s take a look at the entire fight card and the starting time slots of each section.

Will GSP’s meticulous game planning pay dividends, allowing him to elude and outsmart Hendricks’ thumping left hand—or will the contender stun the world by turning the lights out on the champion, whose dominance over the 170-pound division has gone undiminished for over half a decade?

Will Chael Sonnen outwork Rashad Evans en route to his Ultimate Fighter stint in Brazil, or will Evans stop him before his grinding style can even get underway?

And in arguably the top contender for Fight of the Night, will Rory MacDonald’s cold, calculated approach allow him to pick apart a bloodthirsty Robbie Lawler, or will his ascendancy to the No. 1 contender spot come to a screeching halt courtesy of Lawler‘s unique form of savagery?

I don’t know the outcomes, but I do know that when sparks fill the air and fists start flying, the answers will reveal themselves in an exciting manner worthy of the UFC banner.

If you have any last-minute picks, sound off in the comments below.

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Artem Moshkovich is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for MMA news and more.

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GSP vs. Hendricks: Analyzing Each Fighter’s Most Important Weapon

When Georges St-Pierre defends his UFC welterweight title against Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks on Saturday night in Las Vegas, there is no secret what weapon GSP will have to be wary of.

Hendricks’ Furious Left Hand

Hendricks has obliterat…

When Georges St-Pierre defends his UFC welterweight title against Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks on Saturday night in Las Vegas, there is no secret what weapon GSP will have to be wary of.

Hendricks’ Furious Left Hand

Hendricks has obliterated opponents with his powerful striking ability, namely his lethal left hand. The thunderous punch ended Martin Kampmann’s night and a few of Hendricks’ other opponents. He has scored a KO in eight of his 15 wins.

As tough as GSP is, if Hendricks clocks him, he’s going to sleep like every other fighter “Big Rigg” has connected against.

The challenger also has a solid wrestling background, though he has depended on his striking prowess to rise to his current status in the UFC. Hendricks is a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion (2005 and 2006 at Oklahoma State), yet even with his accolades, he won’t be the best wrestler in the Octagon on Saturday night.

GSP’s Ground Game

Georges St-Pierre is quite possibly the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the sport.

His counter-takedowns are a thing of beauty. According to FightMetric.com, GSP is successful on 76 percent of his takedown attempts. Hendricks only hits 50 percent of his. Think GSP is padding his numbers against fighters who are weak in the wrestling department? Think again.

Against renowned wrestler and MMA legend Matt Hughes, GSP took his opponent down on 6-of-6 attempts. As good as Hendricks’ background in wrestling is, he’ll be hard-pressed to gain a grappling advantage over GSP.

The champion stuffed all of Hughes’ attempts to take him down and he has stopped 86 percent of the takedown attempts against him in the UFC. In fact, GSP hasn’t been taken down in a fight since his rematch with Josh Koscheck in 2010.

Koscheck managed to land one of his four attempts to ground the champion.

Hendricks’ best and only chance to win is to stand and connect. He has a puncher’s chance for sure and he is quite a puncher, but it seems more likely GSP’s grappling will lead him to yet another victory.

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