UFC Fight Night 82: Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson – A Closer Look

They say that good things come to those who wait. Well, MMA fans haven’t even cracked open two full months of 2016 without already receiving some solid UFC shows.  Three of them being free on Fox Sports 1 only sweetened that trend balancing out the UFC 195 PPV in January thus far.  Sure, it took the originally planned UFC 196: Werdum vs. Velasquez 2 main event to fall apart due to injuries to both headliners for this UFC Fight Night: Vegas metamorphosis to happen, but beggars can’t be choosers and free is free.  The new main event features two stellar 170-pound fighters for the Super Bowl weekend card as ex-title holder Johny Hendricks faces Stephen Thompson this Saturday night. Here is a closer look at what to expect when this pair of “Top 10” welterweights collide in the Octagon from inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

Photo by Armando Romo

Former UFC 170lbs champion and #2 ranked welterweight Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks (17-3) continues his latest quest to reclaim UFC gold. The Texas power hitter has been red hot lately as a PPV headliner, or handling duties on the main card portion of numerous shows.  The ground and pound specialist garnered all of this attention thanks to a 6-fight winning streak stemming from 2011 to 2013 which nabbed him a title shot at the coveted 20th anniversary event, UFC 167, opposite then division champ Georges St. Pierre.  That night he lost a split decision but was still in the hunt due to Georges retirement following the bout. Hendricks’ next match was another title bout in March of 2014, for the belt St. Pierre vacated. The Texan would get the strap via unanimous decision in Texas over Robbie Lawler thanks to his superior conditioning and active, come forward attacks. He defended his belt against Lawler in a rematch in Vegas losing the title via controversial split decision that December.

Hendricks came back to the win column in March of 201 picking up the unanimous verdict over seasoned veteran, Matt Brown. Next in line for the Texan was heavy-handed wrestler, Tyron Woodley, this past October.  However, a tougher than expected weight cut disabled Hendricks from competing that night so he has been on the sidelines since. Talk quickly emerged of him being bumped up to the middleweight division if his weight cuts were going to become a medical issue for the 32-year old. But, a closed doors meeting with company brass backed by stricter and more assertive weight loss practices allowed for “Bigg Rigg” to keep on trucking in the welterweight division.

Photo by Armando Romo

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (11-1) brings his 6-inch reach advantage and 3-inch height advantage to the cage as well as his undefeated kickboxing record to tackle his biggest test to date this Super Bowl 50 weekend.  The talented South Carolina native does so returning to his home away from home of sorts seeing as how out of the 8 bouts on his UFC ledger, 5 of them have been in Las Vegas where he has always triumphed.  The multiple time kickboxing champion has finished more than half of his MMA victims crafting some of the prettiest highlight reel head kick knockouts in recent memory. When he isn’t showcasing his dazzling footwork, Thompson has finished the rest of his foes via strikes and a submission, and all of them in 2 rounds or less. Still somewhat of a work in progress inside the Octagon but seasoned in worldwide competition thanks to his previous travels abroad, this will be the highest caliber opponent to date for “Wonderboy” and one has to wonder if he is ready to be a man amongst the elite of the division.  The challenge of his first former champion opponent can give fans the ultimate test with which to gauge the South Carolina fighter’s current progression.

Stephen Thompson has never lost in Las Vegas and Johny Hendricks has yet to win there so going by statistics alone it seems like the “home team” has it in the bag. However, numbers mean nothing inside the cage and you cannot calculate the fire in a fighter’s stomach, their warrior heart or unbreakable will to win. Strategy wise Thompson must continuously keep his foe at the end of his punches for the duration of the bout, period. Hendricks can get a little wild coming in and has sacrificed eating left hooks and uppercuts to close distance so if Thompson can put together a mean 2-piece combo and land a right hook-left high kick we may very well be seeing the destruction of Hendricks in the later rounds as Thompson chops away at the bearded former champion minute after minute.

On the other hand, it’s perfectly logical on any level to view this as the classic “striker vs. grappler” scenario that has pleasantly plagued the Octagon for two decades. Hendricks, a decorated wrestler, has to keep Thompson planted on his posterior for the greater portion of each round and also keep him pinned along the cage wall. The Texan won’t have to worry about nasty jabs, spinning hook kicks or lightning-fast roundhouses flying his way if his foe’s arsenal is rendered useless with one simple adjustment; take the fight to the mat.  On that note, the blueprint to beating Thompson was laid out at UFC 145 by Matt Brown so Hendricks can thank the Ohio native for highlighting the hole in Thompson’s game. This might very well turn into a Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva or Rafael dos Anjos vs. Anthony Pettis type of fight were the feisty finisher with the fancy footwork  finds himself frustrated and befuddled working off of his back for lengthy periods of time. We are either getting a grinding and clear unanimous decision verdict for the ex-champ or another highlight reel finish from the dynamic striker. Either way, it is one great main event to tune in for on Fox Sports 1 as Johny Hendricks meets Stephen Thompson from inside the MGM Grand Casino for the UFC Vegas fight night headliner.