Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks has arrived in New Mexico for his training camp ahead of UFC 217. Hendricks confirmed that he will be working with the coaches and fighters at Jackson-Wink MMA ahead of his November fight with Paulo Borrachinha. Heading to @JacksonWinkMMA today can’t wait to train pic.twitter.com/eWGiMgFzTp — Johny Hendricks (@JohnyHendricks) […]
Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks has arrived in New Mexico for his training camp ahead of UFC 217. Hendricks confirmed that he will be working with the coaches and fighters at Jackson-Wink MMA ahead of his November fight with Paulo Borrachinha. Heading to @JacksonWinkMMA today can't wait to train pic.twitter.com/eWGiMgFzTp — Johny Hendricks (@JohnyHendricks) […]
Former UFC champion Johny Hendricks is moving the training camp for his pivotal bout at November 4’s UFC 217 to one of MMA’s most respected gyms. News arrived from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani this evening that the former welterweight boss was headed to the famed Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home of highly-regarded […]
Former UFC champion Johny Hendricks is moving the training camp for his pivotal bout at November 4’s UFC 217 to one of MMA’s most respected gyms.
News arrived from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani this evening that the former welterweight boss was headed to the famed Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home of highly-regarded coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in addition to some of the most storied names in the sport such as former interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit, whom Hendricks very narrowly beat at March 2013’s UFC 158 to earn his first title shot.
Hendricks also tweeted the following photo of him riding his “Bigg Rigg” to Jackson-Wink with a message saying he couldn’t wait to train:
Hendricks is set to take on surging middleweight prospect Paulo Borrachinha – a brutalizing, undefeated force who has finished each of his 10 mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts – so “Bigg Rigg” will need all the help he can get in what would seem like a must-win affair for the fading former champ.
He’s lost five out of his last seven bouts and has looked like a shell of the man who rose to prominence from 2011-2014 by defeating welterweight mainstays like Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit, in addition to taking legendary longtime former champion Georges St-Pierre the distance in a highly controversial split decision at November 2013’s UFC 167, a bout many still believe Hendricks won fair and square.
“Bigg Rigg” won the title from Robbie Lawler in a classic match at UFC 172 in March 2014 after St-Pierre vacated the belt, but since then it’s been extremely rough sledding for him as he’s dropped five of his last seven bouts. He was previously associated with coach Steven Wright at Team Takedown, but both left that camp in 2015.
Appearing at times drawn, gaunt, and even borderline disoriented as he missed the welterweight limit twice and even the middleweight limit once, Hendricks has repeatedly discussed retirement with yet another loss. The odds may tell you that’s a likely outcome against a freight train like Borrachinha, so Hendricks has finally found the right camp to prepare for a test like the former Junge Fight middleweight champion.
If he parlays that into a career-saving victory remains to be seen.
The MMA community is currently anticipating just what Conor McGregor’s next move will be. On a weekend without a UFC or Bellator event, the “Notorious” UFC lightweight champion stoked that fire in a big way earlier this week. Opening up on a variety of options in his interview with Caroline Pearce at “An Evening With […]
The MMA community is currently anticipating just what Conor McGregor’s next move will be.
On a weekend without a UFC or Bellator event, the “Notorious” UFC lightweight champion stoked that fire in a big way earlier this week. Opening up on a variety of options in his interview with Caroline Pearce at “An Evening With Conor McGregor” from Glasgow, McGregor proclaimed it was finally time to defend his title and that he would beat Floyd Mayweather in a rematch in the boxing ring.
Leaving all the doors open, McGregor also wouldn’t rule out his sometimes-discussed match-up with longtime former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who will return to action after nearly four years off when he fights current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping for the title in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from New York City.
So while defending his title is supposedly his top priority (we’ll have to wait and see if that holds true), the UFC’s only simultaneous two-division champ acknowledged St-Pierre could be a good option down the road. However, it may not matter according to the Irishman, who revealed in his interview (quotes via Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting) that he believes Michael Bisping will ‘whoop his a–‘ when they square off in a month’s time:
“It’s another money fight, even though he’s been retired,” he said. “I don’t know, I think he’s going to get his ass whooped by Bisping. To be honest I think it’s a mistake for him to step in at that weight after so long out.”
It’s definitely another “money fight” for the man who has made that term a reality during his meteoric rise to redefining how an MMA superstar picks his fights, regardless of if you believe it’s good or bad for the sport. Wanting only the biggest fights to close out his historic career himself, St-Pierre has been rumored to be planning on calling out “The Notorious” if he does get past Bisping.
Should the brash Irishman accept, or does he have too much on his schedule already?
Khabib Nurmagomedov has yet to step back inside the world-famous Octagon following his big win over Michael Johnson at UFC 205 in November 2016. We have now found that originally, he was scheduled to return to the cage at UFC 217. However, things did not turn out the way that they were supposed to and […]
Khabib Nurmagomedov has yet to step back inside the world-famous Octagon following his big win over Michael Johnson at UFC 205 in November 2016. We have now found that originally, he was scheduled to return to the cage at UFC 217. However, things did not turn out the way that they were supposed to and plans were scrapped.
UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby revealed in a recent interview that Khabib was offered a fight against fellow top contender Tony Ferguson at the event, but talks were unsuccessful.
“Just to clear things up, a fight was offered to Nurmagomedov on Nov. 4th, and at that point, we were trying to put cards together towards the end of the year,” Shelby said on Watch List (via Bloody Elbow). “I was informed that he could not make that date and he probably wouldn’t be able to fight until at least December. And so, that left Tony without a dance partner and it’s not just about one guy, it’s about two guys.”
This was when UFC decided to instead book Ferguson to headline UFC 216 against Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight title.
“So we backed Tony up, and Kevin Lee was there, and I mean look at his resume as of late,” Shelby explained. “He’s a phenomenal fighter, he’s doing fantastic. Right now, I think he’s the hottest thing in the division.”
If you recall, the two were supposed to fight for the interim title at UFC 209. However, the supposed co-main event bout was scrapped when Khabib pulled out due to health issues stemming from his weight cut.
UFC 217 is set to take place on Saturday, November 4th in New York at Madison Square Garden. Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre for the UFC middleweight title is expected to serve as the main event. Cody Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title is expected to serve as the co-main event.
Currently on the sidelines for nearly a full year, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been derided as one of the worst UFC titleholders in recent memory for his accused unwillingness to take on the top contenders in the talented 185-pound fray. But that’s just fine with him, as his meticulously planned ‘maneuvering’ has earned […]
Currently on the sidelines for nearly a full year, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been derided as one of the worst UFC titleholders in recent memory for his accused unwillingness to take on the top contenders in the talented 185-pound fray.
But that’s just fine with him, as his meticulously planned ‘maneuvering’ has earned him – deserved or not – a title fight with longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Although the bout will feature the previously awaited comeback of one of MMA’s biggest overall stars in St-Pierre, the growing consensus from the majority of the mixed martial arts community is that it’s a strange fight considering St-Pierre has never fought in the division and will have been out for almost exactly four years by fight time. Again, however, it’s the perceived payday Bisping appears to be looking for, and even though he doesn’t exactly have the best dance partner in terms of trash talk, that, of course, won’t stop the brash “Count” from spouting off on “GSP.”
Case in point, he recently offered a bold prediction for the title fight on his “Believe You Me” podcast this week (via MMA Junkie), claiming he will stop St-Pierre’s grappling with his movement and knock him out in the first round:
“Generally, when I fight wrestlers in the past, I move around a lot,” Bisping said. “I utilize a lot of lateral movement, forward and back movement, side-to-side, because if you’re moving, it’s hard for a wrestler to shoot a double leg on you because you’re a moving target. I won’t be doing that this time.
“I’m going to stand right in front of him, I’m going to plant my feet, I’m going to walk him down, put him on the back foot, and I’m going to knock him out in the first round. You have my word.”
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports
St-Pierre has only been knocked out in the first round once in his infamous upset loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69 in 2007. It’s regarded as the bout that caused “Rush” to turn from a risk-taking knockout artist to a much more cautious wrestling-centered fighter who picked opponents apart with superior athleticism and gameplans.
It’s true that Bisping has shown he’s more than willing to push the pace at his opponents, especially during his recent run of success where he’s done just that against Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, but aside from his title-winning knockout of Luke Rockhold at June 2016’s UFC 199, it hasn’t translated into many knockout stoppages.
Perhaps he can score another by facing a man who competed his entire career at 170 pounds and has been out of fighting for quite a long stretch. Do you believe Bisping will knock out St-Pierre?
Jorge Masvidal doesn’t think Stephen Thompson will try to brawl with him. On Nov. 4, Masvidal and Thompson are set to clash inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout will be featured on the main card of UFC 217. Both welterweights are coming off losses. Masvidal fell short against Demian Maia back […]
Jorge Masvidal doesn’t think Stephen Thompson will try to brawl with him. On Nov. 4, Masvidal and Thompson are set to clash inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout will be featured on the main card of UFC 217. Both welterweights are coming off losses. Masvidal fell short against Demian Maia back […]
