Johny Hendricks: KO power makes Jake Ellenberger fight more dangerous than Georges St. Pierre

Johny Hendricks will be fighting at UFC 158 on March 16, 2013 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but it won't be against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

That honor was bestowed upon Nick Diaz, who will challenge "Rush" for his strap in Canada while "Bigg Rigg" will take on Jake Ellenberger on the main card of the much anticipated event.

A 'super tough fight' Jake says he asked for when other welterweights turned it down.

Hendricks, who is widely considered to be the rightful owner of the number one contender's status in the 170-pound division, says he is no longer ‘dwelling' on his title fight snub after reeling off five straight victories. Instead, his focus is zeroed in on "The Juggernaut" and his knockout power, which is something Hendricks says he doesn't have to worry about should he ever face St. Pierre.

Speaking to Sherdog's Beatdown Radio, the former NCAA Division-1 wrestling champion talks about his upcoming bout against Ellenberger and explains why that fight is more 'exciting' and 'dangerous' than one against the 170-pound champion.

His words:

"He's shown that he can knock people out, and whenever you have that kind of power, you have to respect it. You have to know, ‘OK, this guy is a heavy-handed guy.' One shot can put you away. That's what makes fighting people like that a little bit more of a challenge, a fun challenge, because no matter what happens -- it might be the second or third round -- you still have to worry about everything. It makes it that much more exciting .... (with) Georges St. Pierre, you don't have to worry about that knockout punch. You've just got to worry about getting taken down. (With) Ellenberger, you've got to worry about the punch and also his take downs."

"It's not that it's more difficult (fight) but, it's a little bit more dangerous, you know what I'm saying? Like I said, you don't know which punch will be the last. With GSP, you know where he's going to want to take it, you know he's not going to want to stand with you. He's going to want to go in there set up his jab, throw a few leg kicks, or he's going to get you to the perimeter, to that black line, and you know a double leg is coming. Ellenberger, he is going to try to knock you out before he takes you down."

While Ellenberger does posses power in his hands, winning four of his last seven via KO or TKO, St. Pierre has pretty much cleaned out the entire welterweight division twice over, despite the minuscule fact he hasn't finished an opponent in three years.

So, to proclaim Jake is a more dangerous fight than one against one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, may be a bit of a stretch. Or is it?

You tell us.

Oh, and that whole not willing to 'stand up' thing, Josh Koscheck begs to differ.