Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax, Canada, Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks made his middleweight debut and snapped a three-fight losing streak by defeating Hector Lombard via unanimous decision. As reported yesterday, the former welterweight champion already knows who he wants to face next - MMA superstar Georges St. Pierre. Unfortunately for him, a revenge match with GSP just does not seem feasible given how far Hendricks has slid in the rankings since St. Pierre's departure in 2013. Instead, Hendricks needs to gain some momentum against stellar competition and, then, make a run at "Rush." Who should that stellar competition be?
Well, I have an idea.
Johny Hendricks should fight the winner of Evans vs. Kelly at UFC 209
The fight that makes the most sense for Hendricks right now is the winner between Rashad Evans and Daniel Kelly at UFC 209 on March 4 in Paradise, Nevada. Either fight would end up on the main card of a pay-per-view and offer an interesting story to the audience. If Evans were to win, it would set up the clash of two former champions, and a win over "Suga" would launch Hendricks back into the spotlight. If Kelly were to win, it would give Hendricks a chance to gain some serious momentum by putting away a rapidly upcoming contender.
Johny Hendricks needs time to adjusted to his new weight class
It is no secret that Hendricks has struggled making weight in the past.
Granted, he is now fighting at middleweight (15 pounds heavier than his previous weight class), but he still needs time to fine-tune his fight preparations and get used to fighting at a high level again. In addition, he needs to make sure the hand injury he mentioned in the post-fight press conference is completely healed, before taking on someone as dangerous as GSP.
Sure, St. Pierre has been out of action for quite some time, but if his striking coach, Freddie Roach, is to be believed, he may be in better shape than he has ever been in before.
Despite wanting to avenge his most controversial loss, Johny Hendricks needs to pick up another victory or two before the UFC will be willing to give him St. Pierre. Remember, Dana White is still desperate to prove to WME that their $4 billion dollar purchase was worth it, and Hendricks vs. GSP is not going to pull in enough money right now.
