Tag: Johny Hendricks

GSP and Johny Hendricks Agree to VADA Drug Testing Leading Up to UFC 167

Upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Johny Hendricks didn’t hesitate in accepting champion Georges St-Pierre’s invitation to participate in Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) drug testing ahead of their November 16 showdown.
GSP made the suggest…

Upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Johny Hendricks didn’t hesitate in accepting champion Georges St-Pierre’s invitation to participate in Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) drug testing ahead of their November 16 showdown.

GSP made the suggestion last Saturday, July 6, while Hendricks accepted the challenge with open arms on Thursday, according to Sportsnet.

“I believe VADA testing. I’m up for it, and I invite my opponent to do the VADA testing for the championship fight,” St-Pierre told UFC Central host Showdown Joe Ferraro. “I invite, if possible, all the high-profile athletes in the UFC to do the same. I believe it’s a good thing. It’s a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes, but … I’m ready to do it to set a good example.”

Hendricks, a four-time Division I All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, has absolutely no problem being drug tested any time, any place and anywhere. 

“The worst thing that they’re going to find is a little bit of protein in my diet. If eating wild hogs and organic deer meat and a little bit of glutamine is bad for the ol’ system, then I might fail,” Hendricks joked during an appearance on UFC Central Radio on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “It doesn’t matter. Today, tomorrow, three months from now, I’ll gladly take a test for anything.”

Neither St-Pierre nor Hendricks have ever failed a drug test in their professional MMA careers, though that hasn’t stopped previous opponents from throwing accusations at the French-Canadian champion.

“Rush” enters the fall championship bout on the strength of an 11-fight win streak, which includes eight title defenses. 

His most recent outing inside the cage was a lopsided unanimous decision over former Strikeforce titleholder Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in March. 

Meanwhile, “Bigg Rigg” earned his shot at the gold by rattling off six straight victories at 170 pounds, including knockouts over perennial contenders in Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann. 

Hendricks most recently became a “Fight of the Year” candidate when he out-pointed former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, also at UFC 158 in March. 

GSP and Hendricks clash at UFC 167, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Will VADA drug testing become the norm for UFC championship fights, or is the UFC still a ways off from imposing those measures?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Georges St. Pierre Takes a Page From the BJ Penn Pre-Fight Handbook, Invites Johny Hendricks to Do VADA Testing With Him

(Skip to 2:25 for the start of the VADA conversation..)

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has been accused of steroid use more times than any other fighter who’s never failed a drug test. BJ Penn first painted him as a cheater in 2009, saying that St. Pierre “doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to steroids and growth hormones and that stuff,” and pointed to his physique as proof. (“He looks like that every day…The rest of us, we get fat, then we train and get skinny and the cycle goes over and over again. He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”)

The following year, Josh Koscheck passed along some “hearsay information” supporting the GSP/steroid rumors, calling for Olympic style drug testing for his upcoming fight against St. Pierre. And earlier this year, we saw noted conspiracy theorist Nick Diaz implying that not only was GSP on steroids, but the UFC knows about it and is cool with it.

So for once, St. Pierre is going to beat these jackasses to the punch. In a new interview with Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro, St. Pierre invited his UFC 167 opponent Johny Hendricks to subscribe to pre-fight drug-testing with him through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), which would provide random, unannounced testing during the eight weeks before their fight. Here’s what St. Pierre had to say:

“I believe the sport has a problem now. When I first started fighting in mixed martial arts, it didn’t have any money. So, now more money got involved, more ways are there to be cheating to take a shortcut and I believe VADA testing I’m up for it and I invite my opponent to do the VADA testing for the championship fight.


(Skip to 2:25 for the start of the VADA conversation..)

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has been accused of steroid use more times than any other fighter who’s never failed a drug test. BJ Penn first painted him as a cheater in 2009, saying that St. Pierre “doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to steroids and growth hormones and that stuff,” and pointed to his physique as proof. (“He looks like that every day…The rest of us, we get fat, then we train and get skinny and the cycle goes over and over again. He looks the same way all the time. Come on.”)

The following year, Josh Koscheck passed along some “hearsay information” supporting the GSP/steroid rumors, calling for Olympic style drug testing for his upcoming fight against St. Pierre. And earlier this year, we saw noted conspiracy theorist Nick Diaz implying that not only was GSP on steroids, but the UFC knows about it and is cool with it.

So for once, St. Pierre is going to beat these jackasses to the punch. In a new interview with Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro, St. Pierre invited his UFC 167 opponent Johny Hendricks to subscribe to pre-fight drug-testing with him through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), which would provide random, unannounced testing during the eight weeks before their fight. Here’s what St. Pierre had to say:

“I believe the sport has a problem now. When I first started fighting in mixed martial arts, it didn’t have any money. So, now more money got involved, more ways are there to be cheating to take a shortcut and I believe VADA testing I’m up for it and I invite my opponent to do the VADA testing for the championship fight.

I invite if possible all the high-profile athletes in the UFC to do the same. I believe it’s a good thing. It’s a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes but I believe to make the sport (better)…I’m ready to do it to set a good example.”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because BJ Penn pulled this exact same move before his fight against GSP’s protege Rory MacDonald, implying that the sport (and by extension, his opponent) was dirty, and that it was up to him — MMA’s Last Honest Man — to do something about it.

When Penn did it, it seemed like a cross between self-promotion and preparing an excuse in advance. For St. Pierre, it has a different tenor. This is not about hype — it’s about taking control of the common narrative (among his opponents, at least) that he’s a drug-cheat.

Will VADA-testing actually come to pass for his title-defense against Hendricks? Probably not. UFC president Dana White has bristled in the past when his fighters bring up the idea of additional drug testing for their fights, claiming that drug-testing should only be the responsibility of the athletic commissions. (“When fighters start talking about other guys being drug tested? Shut up. Worry about you.”) But hopefully this will prevent GSP’s future opponents from dragging out the same unfounded attacks about St. Pierre and PEDs. And just in case Johny Hendricks was planning to do the same thing? Well, he can’t now. In fact, he has to say that he’d be down with VADA testing too*, or else he looks suspicious.

Of course, if you’re a Nick Diaz/BJ Penn nuthugger, you probably think that the UFC has already paid off VADA to falsify any drug-test results that GSP might submit in the future, in order to help their golden-boy PPV king keep winning fights and maintain his year-round six-pack. I can’t help you guys. The truth is out there.

* Update: And he has. “Heck ya!” Hendricks told UFC Central Radio on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “The worst thing that they’re going to find is a little bit of protein in my diet. If eating wild hogs and organic deer meat and a little bit of glutamine is bad for the ol’ system then I might fail…It doesn’t matter. Today, tomorrow, three months from now, I’ll gladly take a test for anything.”

Johny Hendricks: GSP Has My Belt, He’s Just Holding on to It for Me

Upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Johny Hendricks is oozing with confidence leading up to his showdown with champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 in November. 
In an interview with MMA Fight Corner, “Bigg Rigg” says fans have yet to see h…

Upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Johny Hendricks is oozing with confidence leading up to his showdown with champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 in November. 

In an interview with MMA Fight Corner, “Bigg Rigg” says fans have yet to see him show his true potential inside the Octagon and he is completely confident he has the tools to beat his French-Canadian counterpart. 

I want to knock him out, but I want his hands to be up. I want to punch people’s hands and I wanna lay him out the right way … The only people who know my true power are people that I’ve wrestled and that’s about it. That’s what I’m excited to bring out is that kind of intensity, that kind of power that I haven’t shown the world yet, and I plan to do that in November … That’s the hardest part is stepping in against a guy who’s had the belt since forever ago. The most important thing is that I believe that’s my belt. He’s just holding onto it for me.

Hendricks made it clear that he wants a victory over GSP, who enters the bout on an 11-fight win streak, to be decisive and without controversy, unlike Chris Weidman‘s shocking upset over Anderson Silva this past Saturday.

While Weidman knocked out the legendary Silva with a left hook in the second round, naysayers believe “The All-American” doesn’t stand a chance in a potential rematch if Silva cuts back on the showboating. 

Following the loss by the Brazilian pound-for-pound great, St-Pierre currently holds the longest active win streak in the UFC. 

Additionally, he has a realistic chance of tying Silva’s record of 10 consecutive title defenses. GSP currently boasts eight title defenses in a row. 

Hendricks, who has won six fights in a row in his own right, sounds like he has other plans and will bring the fight to the long-time 170-pound kingpin. 

Will Hendricks be able to make good on his word and dethrone St-Pierre this fall or will the face of the Tristar Gym once again prove to be too much to handle? 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Friday Link Dump: Dave Herman’s Do-Or-Die Drug Test, Spike TV to Add ‘Glory’ Events, Cats Puking to Techno, Exploding Actresses + More

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UFC 162 Primer: Roger Gracie Mini-Documentary (FightDay)

The Fit 5: Johny Hendricks and Jamie Varner Talk MMA (MensFitness)

June 2013 MMA Babe of the Month: Ericka Kristen (BabesofMMA)

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The 20 Funniest “Challenge Accepted” Photos Ever (WorldWideInterweb)

100 of the All-Time Greatest Viral Videos in 3 Minutes (DoubleViking)

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UFC 162: Herb Dean Assigned as Ref for Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman; Questionable Judges Also Get the Call (BloodyElbow)

After NSAC Grills Dave Herman, UFC 162 License Depends on Clean Drug Test (MMAJunkie)

UFC 162 Primer: Roger Gracie Mini-Documentary (FightDay)

The Fit 5: Johny Hendricks and Jamie Varner Talk MMA (MensFitness)

June 2013 MMA Babe of the Month: Ericka Kristen (BabesofMMA)

Re-Living Every UFC Champ’s First Fight in the Octagon (BleacherReport)

Onetime Bellator Fighter Ururahy Rodrigues Captures Murder Suspect Seconds After Crime (MMAFighting)

Spike TV to Broadcast Live ‘Glory’ Kickboxing Events Starting This Fall (MMAWeekly)

The 20 Funniest “Challenge Accepted” Photos Ever (WorldWideInterweb)

100 of the All-Time Greatest Viral Videos in 3 Minutes (DoubleViking)

NBA Draft Commentary That Didn’t Come True (Complex)

Lucas ‘Bebe’ Nogueira Won The NBA Draft Last Night (TerezOwens)

Pics: 20 Incredibly Awkward Parties (EgoTV)

Lance Armstrong: Tour De France “Impossible To Win Without Doping” (Deadspin)

The 15 Hottest Facebook Pages (MadeMan)

“Exploding Actresses”: Exactly What It Sounds Like, But Funnier (ScreenJunkies)

Interactive Video: You Choose How Drunk This Band Is (Break)

Friday Link Dump: Dave Herman’s Do-Or-Die Drug Test, Spike TV to Add ‘Glory’ Events, Cats Puking to Techno, Exploding Actresses + More

(Absafuckinlutely genius. Props: Minecraftsuper2)

UFC 162: Herb Dean Assigned as Ref for Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman; Questionable Judges Also Get the Call (BloodyElbow)

After NSAC Grills Dave Herman, UFC 162 License Depends on Clean Drug Test (MMAJunkie)

UFC 162 Primer: Roger Gracie Mini-Documentary (FightDay)

The Fit 5: Johny Hendricks and Jamie Varner Talk MMA (MensFitness)

June 2013 MMA Babe of the Month: Ericka Kristen (BabesofMMA)

Re-Living Every UFC Champ’s First Fight in the Octagon (BleacherReport)

Onetime Bellator Fighter Ururahy Rodrigues Captures Murder Suspect Seconds After Crime (MMAFighting)

Spike TV to Broadcast Live ‘Glory’ Kickboxing Events Starting This Fall (MMAWeekly)

The 20 Funniest “Challenge Accepted” Photos Ever (WorldWideInterweb)

100 of the All-Time Greatest Viral Videos in 3 Minutes (DoubleViking)

NBA Draft Commentary That Didn’t Come True (Complex)

Lucas ‘Bebe’ Nogueira Won The NBA Draft Last Night (TerezOwens)

Pics: 20 Incredibly Awkward Parties (EgoTV)

Lance Armstrong: Tour De France “Impossible To Win Without Doping” (Deadspin)

The 15 Hottest Facebook Pages (MadeMan)

“Exploding Actresses”: Exactly What It Sounds Like, But Funnier (ScreenJunkies)

Interactive Video: You Choose How Drunk This Band Is (Break)


(Absafuckinlutely genius. Props: Minecraftsuper2)

UFC 162: Herb Dean Assigned as Ref for Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman; Questionable Judges Also Get the Call (BloodyElbow)

After NSAC Grills Dave Herman, UFC 162 License Depends on Clean Drug Test (MMAJunkie)

UFC 162 Primer: Roger Gracie Mini-Documentary (FightDay)

The Fit 5: Johny Hendricks and Jamie Varner Talk MMA (MensFitness)

June 2013 MMA Babe of the Month: Ericka Kristen (BabesofMMA)

Re-Living Every UFC Champ’s First Fight in the Octagon (BleacherReport)

Onetime Bellator Fighter Ururahy Rodrigues Captures Murder Suspect Seconds After Crime (MMAFighting)

Spike TV to Broadcast Live ‘Glory’ Kickboxing Events Starting This Fall (MMAWeekly)

The 20 Funniest “Challenge Accepted” Photos Ever (WorldWideInterweb)

100 of the All-Time Greatest Viral Videos in 3 Minutes (DoubleViking)

NBA Draft Commentary That Didn’t Come True (Complex)

Lucas ‘Bebe’ Nogueira Won The NBA Draft Last Night (TerezOwens)

Pics: 20 Incredibly Awkward Parties (EgoTV)

Lance Armstrong: Tour De France “Impossible To Win Without Doping” (Deadspin)

The 15 Hottest Facebook Pages (MadeMan)

“Exploding Actresses”: Exactly What It Sounds Like, But Funnier (ScreenJunkies)

Interactive Video: You Choose How Drunk This Band Is (Break)

How Will Fighting Outside of Canada Affect Georges St-Pierre?

Having the backing of a home crowd in four straight fights could make even the best fighter become complacent.Fortunately for Georges St-Pierre, he’s more advanced psychologically than most great fighters.GSP enjoyed great support from his fellow Canad…

Having the backing of a home crowd in four straight fights could make even the best fighter become complacent.

Fortunately for Georges St-Pierre, he’s more advanced psychologically than most great fighters.

GSP enjoyed great support from his fellow Canadians in his last four fights, three of which took place in his home province of Quebec.

While he perhaps drew some extra energy from his home crowd’s support in his last four wins, the benefits of fighting in Canada certainly didn’t make a difference for St-Pierre. Like he always has, GSP won his last four bouts because he prepared more properly than his opponents.

In his next bout in November, St-Pierre’s slated to scrap in Las Vegas, a bout that will mark his first in the United States since besting Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in Newark.

Fans can expect the same cerebral St-Pierre when the 32-year-old Canadian squares off with heavy-handed, two-time former NCAA D-I national champion wrestler Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.

Undoubtedly the most businesslike fighter in the game, St-Pierre has amazingly hit another groove in the twilight of his career, less than two years after a major ACL surgery.

The Tristar Gym product has looked virtually untouchable since August 2007. Just a few months before, GSP experienced a life-altering setback when he got upset by Matt Serra at UFC 69.

St-Pierre was shocked and embarrassed by losing to a perceived inferior fighter in “The Terror,” but it was a loss that forced GSP do some worthwhile soul searching.

Shortly after UFC 69, St-Pierre hooked up with former training partner Firas Zahabi, wisely naming the brilliant fight-mind his head trainer before his next bout with Josh Koscheck at UFC 74.

Zahabi has not only influenced St-Pierre to optimize his intellect in the Octagon, but he’s also helped the Canadian enhance his strength and speed to become the sport’s most dynamic and explosive athlete.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former Canadian Muay Thai champ, Zahabi has guided St-Pierre’s development as the sport’s most cerebral schemer, teaching the Renzo Gracie pupil to develop a style based on control and precise execution.

Instead of fretting over where the fight will take place, St-Pierre and Zahabi will spend most of their training camp preparing to defend Hendricks’ wrestling prowess, venomous left hand and any other threats the dangerous 29-year-old poses.

St-Pierre could lock horns with “Bigg Rigg” in Canada or in Hendricks’ home state of Oklahoma. Regardless of where the fight takes place, fans will see the same meticulous game plan from GSP.

After all, of the 18 wins St-Pierre has secured in the Octagon, he’s only gotten to celebrate five in Canada.


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