Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new UFC welterweight champion of the world. His name is Johny Hendricks. No, I did not spell that wrong. It's one n, not two. Remember the name, because he may be around for awhile. During his fight with "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler, he looked both absolutely dominant and completely vulnerable. He hit Robbie with punches that would have dropped lesser men, and Robbie hit him with punches that would have killed lesser men.
It was almost everything you could ask from a championship battle. For instance, it was high-paced. Both men threw lots of punches. And I mean lots of punches. There were moments--many of them--when the two warriors stood right in front of each other and traded one bomb after another. Neither man seemed interested in taking a backward step.
It also had dramatic shifts in momentum. Johny whipped Robbie's butt in the first two rounds. He hit Robbie with multi-strike combinations time and again, often ending the combination with a hard leg kick. Robbie seemed to have no answer. Being a fan of Robbie's and of his story (long-time veteran makes it big), I shouted at the television, "Don't just stand in front of him, Robbie! Throw punches!"
I have to pause a moment and discuss how one of the three judges scored round two. Judge Doug Crosby scored the round 10-8 for Johny Hendricks. A 10-8 round is rare. It is reserved for when one fighter beats another fighter so badly, he almost finishes him. In boxing (where the 10-point-must system was adopted from), a 10-8 is usually only given if a boxer knocks his opponent down. Otherwise, if one fighter handily beats another, but doesn't nearly finish them, the judge scores the round 10-9. That's how the other two judges scored the round, and that's how Doug Crosby should have scored it.
I was so puzzled by the scoring, I rewatched that round. At no point was Robbie knocked down. At no point was he dazed or wobbly-legged. Johny gave him a beating, but he didn't give him a 10-8 beating. In fact, Robbie landed arguably the best punch of the round when he nailed Johny with a big left hand at the bell.
Doug Crosby needs to be retrained before appointed to another world title fight. Heck, he needs to be retrained before being appointed to any fight. These fighters work too hard to have incompetent judges deliver ridiculous score cards. Shame on you, Doug Crosby.
Anyway, after two rounds, Robbie started letting his hands go. And it paid off. At the 3-minute-mark, he hit Johny with a blistering left cross. The punch wobbled Johny and had him backing up, wondering where he was at. For the next minute, Robbie stayed on him, and hit him with punches that have knocked many a fighter stiff. Johny took those punches and remained standing. Barely. By the end of the round, Johny had regained his composure and was firing back at Robbie.
In the 4th round, Robbie dominated. He hit Johny with some crazy punches. Immediately, Johny's face started to swell and bleed. At the 1:50 mark, Robbie hit him with an uppercutt that darn near ripped his head off his shoulders. That punch would have ended the night for most people. But Johny incredibly took the punch and fired back a three-punch combination! As dominant as Johny was in the first two rounds, Robbie was even more dominant in the 3rd and 4th rounds.
While Johny sat in his corner after the 4th round, his coach, Marc Laymon, didn't mince words. "This is it! If you want to win this fight you have to do it right [beeping] now!" It was precisely the kind of message Johny needed to hear. Too often, I've heard coaches sugar coat what's happening. In rounds where their fighter got beat up, I'll hear them say, "Not bad. Now breathe deep and remember to double-up on your jab." That sort of advice does not create a sense of urgency. But when your coach essentially says, "Win this next round or you lose," it gets the job done.
When the bell rang to start the 5th round, I believed we were going to see more of what we saw in the 3rd and 4th rounds: Robbie teeing off on a tired and half-concussed Hendricks. But Johny came out and gave as good as he got. With a little more than a minute left in the fight, Johny rocked Robbie and had him stumbling backwards toward the cage, trying to shake the fog out of his brain. Seeing his chance to secure the win, Johny shot for a takedown and got it.
For the last minute of the fight, Johny held his foe down. It was clearly a case of I-know-I'm ahead-so-I'm-going-to-hold-you-down-until-the-bell-rings. And though I cursed him when he did it, I have a hard time faulting him for it now. He could have slugged it out with his hurt opponent, but Robbie is always dangerous when he can throw his hands. Just ask Melvin Manhoef. So Johny did what he needed to do to secure the win. It was strategy. A safety-first strategy employed in the 25th minute of a fight in which he had disregarded safety completely for the first 24 minutes.
I can't knock him for that.
When Bruce Buffer rendered the judge's decision, there was no surprise. Johny was the new champion. From where I sit, I think he earned it. Good work, Johny Hendricks. Though I was rooting against you, I have to give credit where credit is due. You won that fight. You won that championship.
Congratulations, Johny. Savor the moment. You are the UFC welterweight champion of the world. The best 170 pounder on the planet.
Until next time.
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