Prime Johny Hendricks was something else.
In his heyday, Johny Hendricks had his way with some of the biggest names of the welterweight division.
12 takedowns against former interim champion Carlos Condit, a battering of the legendary Georges St-Pierre in a controversial title fight in many people thought he won and of course, his five-round war with ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler that saw him become UFC world champion in 2014.
Hendricks came from a wrestling background, a four-time All-American and two-time national champion, but man, could he crack on the feet.
Across an 8-fight run to the title, the heavy-handed ‘Big Rig’ earned $300,000 in performance bonuses with three first-round knockouts and back-to-back-to-back ‘fight of the night’ honors.
Hendricks’ fastest KO of the bunch came in 12 seconds time.
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Johny Hendricks destroyed one of Georges St-Pierre’s title challengers with first punch he threw
At UFC 141 on Dec. 30, 2011, the same night Alistair Overeem KO’ed Brock Lesnar, Johny Hendricks met former UFC title challenger and fellow NCAA wrestler Jon Fitch.
Fitch had an impressive record of 24-3-1 at the time with his only loss in nine years to then-champion Georges St-Pierre.
It took GSP 25 minutes to beat Fitch— Hendricks would only need one punch.
10 seconds in, Hendricks took the center of the Octagon and fired an overhand left that connected right on the chin. Fitch fell backwards to the canvas and clearly out, Hendricks landed one more strike on the ground for good measure.
Hendricks pocketed an extra $50K bonus for what might be the best KO of his illustrious career.
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Jon Fitch toppled referee after KO left him ‘completely stiff’
As for Fitch, he was put on auto-pilot with the two bombs Hendricks threw.
The referee Steve Mazzagatti rushed in immediately to stop the fight and saved Fitch from further punishment. In doing so, Mazzagatti was tripped up and taken down by the dazed NCAA wrestler who thought he was still fighting Hendricks.
Fitch held on to top position for a few seconds with Mazzagatti telling him the fight was over, the UFC veteran asking what had just happened.
“That was a dangerous shot right there,” UFC commentator Joe Rogan said of Hendricks’ ‘perfect’ punch at UFC 141.
“He went completely stiff…
“Fitch goes and tries to wrestle Mazzagatti after it. I believe that was just instinct,” Rogan added.
