Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre often keeps his cards close to the vest, saying he doesn't like to reveal too much about his gameplan prior to a mixed martial arts (MMA) match until fight night.
Johny Hendricks, however, isn't exactly keeping his gameplan secret, promising to bring the fight to "Rush" and relying on his powerful hands that floored Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch to get the job done. If that doesn't work, "Bigg Rigg" will look to impose his outstanding NCAA Division 1 wrestling skills, which earned him two national titles at Oklahoma State University, on the French-Canadian.
And while striking guru Freddie Roach is confident he and Team St. Pierre have already "figured out" how to beat Hendricks, the 170-pound No. 1 division contender says the one thing for which St. Pierre can't prepare is the heart and determination he will bring into the Octagon to win at all costs.
Indeed, Hendricks (via MMA Fight Corner) is confident that despite his bevy of MMA experience, St. Pierre has yet to face a "true" wrestling powerhouse who can tip the scales as a Light Heavyweight.
He explains:
"I'll tell you my gameplan. I'm gonna hit you with my left. If that doesn't work I'm going to try to take you down. If that doesn't work, I'm going to find a way to win, Georges. Easy as that. I wrestled, and all I had was a single-leg. But, I had different ways of setting it up. One thing that he cannot prepare for is my heart, my speed, and my determination to win. He says to everybody, ‘You've not faced anybody like me'. Well guess what? He's never faced a 208-pound, 170 welterweight that has power and a true wrestler."
Hendricks earned his shot at the 170-pound strap by defeating the former division interim champion Carlos Condit in a thrilling "Fight of the Night" performance at UFC 158 in March 2013.
That's the same night "Rush" defended his title for the eighth consecutive time against former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz.
A time and place has yet to be determined for the highly-anticipated welterweight clash between Hendricks and St. Pierre; however, the Las Vegas, Nevada,-based MMA promotion has already announced it will be returning to Toronto, Canada, on Sept. 21, 2013, for UFC 165.
It's possible that St. Pierre, whose last four title defenses have taken place in his native land north of the United States border, will attempt to make his ninth title defense in the main event of the evening. And if that's the case, Hendricks has no qualms fighting in his backyard.
He just wants a "shot at the belt" at long last.