UFC 158: March 16, 2013 Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada UFC Welterweight Contender Johny Hendricks (-150) Profile: Johny Hendricks (14-1) is riding a five-fight winning streak and coming off a stirring first-round knockout of Martin Kampmann at UFC 154. Prior to that he earned a controversial split decision against Josh Koscheck in a bout televised on Fox. The 29-year-old was a two-time NCAA wrestling champion at Oklahoma State and also previously knocked out Koscheck’s teammate Jon Fitch in just 12 seconds at UFC 141 on December 30th, 2011. He is the only fighter in UFC history to knock out two different opponents in less than a minute. The only loss for Hendricks in his MMA career came by unanimous decision against Rick Story at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale on December 4, 2010. He is 9-1 in the UFC overall with five of the wins coming via form of (T)KO and four of them ending in the first round. Three of his past five fights have earned Knockout of the Night honors. UFC Welterweight Contender Carlos Condit (+110) Profile: Former UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit (28-6) remains one of the top contenders at 170 despite losing to champ Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision at UFC 154 in a title unification bout. He has defeated a who’s who of welterweight studs, including Nick Diaz, Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald, and many more. His nickname “The Natural Born Killer” could not be more appropriate. In his 28 wins, he’s finished 26 of his opponents, with only Nick Diaz and Jake Ellenberger left standing in front of him at the final bell. Everyone else, however, has fallen victim to Condit’s wide variety of striking and solid Jackson/Winklejohn-trained ground game. You never know where he’s coming from, and he has a bottomless gas tank. Condit can knock you out or submit you with ease, and he will provide Johny Hendricks with the toughest test of his young career at UFC 158. Opening UFC 158 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Hendricks a small -150 favorite (bet $150 to win $100) while Condit opened as a +110 underdog (bet $100 to win $110) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Hendricks. This is one theme that could be carried out at UFC 158 after Hendricks jumped at the opportunity to fight Condit over Jake Ellenberger, who was his original opponent for the event. Ellenberger took offense to the move and reportedly thinks Hendricks is ducking him. Hendricks later stated he simply wants to meet a higher-ranked foe in an effort to improve his standing within the division. He is already cemented as the No. 1 welterweight contender according to the UFC rankings, but Condit is still No. 2 behind only the champ GSP in the MMAOB MMA Fighter Rankings. Keep in mind, Condit has never been knocked out and knows how to work the judges by staying aggressive, pushing the pace and earning points. His win over Diaz was the perfect example of how to win a decision, and Hendricks can’t afford to turn in another performance like he did against Koscheck. In fact, the last two times Hendricks went the distance, it resulted in split decisions he easily could have lost. MMA fans have seen Hendricks use his All-American wrestling skills to help submit an opponent just once during his career, and he will need to rely on them more here against Condit if it goes to the ground.
