UFC 171: Hendricks vs Lawler

[David]

I actually think Diaz has a great shot against the Hendricks we saw Saturday night.

You think Hendricks fights the same way against Diaz as he did Lawler?

[lambyUK]

I actually think Diaz has a great shot against the Hendricks we saw Saturday night.

You think Hendricks fights the same way against Diaz as he did Lawler?

 

Who knows?

 

I didn't for one minute expect him to fight Lawler the way he did either. Granted Lawler has decent TD, but I thought we would have had Hendricks going for takedown after takedown.

 

Now I know you will come back and say something like "the takedowns that Hendricks did attempt were snuffed", but Hendricks even during the flurries of punches Lawler put on him, he still didn't go for it a takedown.

[David]

Who knows?

 

I didn't for one minute expect him to fight Lawler the way he did either. Granted Lawler has decent TD, but I thought we would have had Hendricks going for takedown after takedown.

 

Now I know you will come back and say something like "the takedowns that Hendricks did attempt were snuffed", but Hendricks even during the flurries of punches Lawler put on him, he still didn't go for it a takedown.

Like I said earlier in the thread, Lawler is a decent level wrestler. He's not on the level of Hendricks, but he's good enough to nullify whatever Hendricks threw athim, plus he has one punch knock out power.

 

Diaz is a completely different kettle of fish, so I'd be certain Hendricks approaches that fight completely differently, just as he did the fight with St-Pierre.

[Egg Shen]

Although power-wise Lawler's in another league to Diaz i don't see Hendricks wanting to stand in the pocket in and trade shots with Diaz. Several massive power punchers have tried to play that game and have ended up on their ass...im not saying Hendricks might not be able too, but there's far easier courses to victory for Hendricks over Diaz.

 

170lb is an a healthy position at the moment, with Hendricks winning it leaves many options for who's next. I personally wouldn't complain if they gave Diaz the nod, it'd be wrong from a rankings standpoint and all that jazz but Diaz is a draw and it's be a great fight, i'd still like to see him win a fight first though and i'd go down the Diaz/Lawler 2 route, that's a PPV headliners on it's own, or stick that under a Hendricks/Woodley headliner maybe? Hendricks/Macdonald in Canada makes sense (despite Rory only coming off one win), i wouldn't consider Lombard to be in the running after Saturday night. Personally, im on board with anything they do.

 

Hendrick's may go on to be a surprise PPV star though. The dislike thing for him recently i never really got, it pretty much all stemmed from the fact that he was upset about losing his title fight to GSP, did anyone actually dislike Hendrick's before that? It's like fans were hating on him for being passionate about he does, weird really. The guy's getting into the habit of having great fights though. 3 FOTN's in a row, and 6 bonuses in his last 8 fights (Hendrick's aint hard off for money), the beardy, hard nosed scrapper, he's got a gimmick so to speak (which helps), and judging by Saturday night he's got a massive Texas following (the biggest attendence ever for a UFC in the UFC), things are looking up.

 

Won't talk too much about the fights Saturday because im way behind but a few quick things:

 

* Judging was a bit weird all night, no bad decision but there were some weird cards on the go.

 

* Thought Lawler kind of blew it against Hendricks. Lawler happily got in there with a dangerous power puncher and confidently stood in the pocket and beat the piss out of Hendricks, even after 2 rounds (i had round 1 pretty close though) you just sensed that Lawler knew what he was doing, going into round 5 i thought it was Lawler's title but Hendrick's finally hurt Lawler with something and you have to give Hendrick's credit, that was a champion's round, fantastic display, and fuck me does he have a chin on him, unreal. Great fight.

 

* Some great performances on the rest of the card, Gastelum/Story was a quality fight, i think Gastelum's gonna end up being better than anyone ever thought he might be, kid looks great. OSP is definitely a sleeper at 205, he fucked Krylov up. Thought Woodley looked the business against Condit too, 3 huge TKO/KO victories in a row, not sure how he'll fair in a 5 round title fight but if Woodley's cardio is on point he's a tough night for anyone, few fighters have explosive power like Woodley, scary dude.

 

* Then there's Hector Lombard. The guy's becoming a bit of an enigma. Joe Rogan's commentary performance summed it up, he went from talking about Lombard being a freak in round 1 to slowly having to back up and declare him to be stinking up the joint out. It's hard to say whether he's playing it safe or if he's knackered or he's conserving energy, i think it's abit of all 3 really. There's no denying that when Lombard explodes he's one of the scariest fighters in MMA and to completely shut down Jake Shields is impressive anyway you wanna look at it, but it was such a frustrating performance. Lombard's the kind of guy i think that sometimes needs someone to come at him hard to make him react and Shields didn't provide that so he coasted. I think you may see a different animal altogether if you saw him fight someone like Robbie Lawler. I'd be down for Lombard/Diaz too.

[David]

Although power-wise Lawler's in another league to Diaz i don't see Hendricks wanting to stand in the pocket in and trade shots with Diaz. Several massive power punchers have tried to play that game and have ended up on their ass...im not saying Hendricks might not be able too, but there's far easier courses to victory for Hendricks over Diaz.

Personally I see him implementing a more wrestling-based gameplan if he fights Diaz. He'll score points with the takedowns, and he'll obviously be looking to land the big shot if it's there.

 

I can't see Diaz winning that fight if I'm honest. I'd be looking at a Hendricks unanimous decision all day long.

 

170lb is an a healthy position at the moment, with Hendricks winning it leaves many options for who's next. I personally wouldn't complain if they gave Diaz the nod, it'd be wrong from a rankings standpoint and all that jazz but Diaz is a draw and it's be a great fight, i'd still like to see him win a fight first though and i'd go down the Diaz/Lawler 2 route, that's a PPV headliners on it's own, or stick that under a Hendricks/Woodley headliner maybe? Hendricks/Macdonald in Canada makes sense (despite Rory only coming off one win), i wouldn't consider Lombard to be in the running after Saturday night. Personally, im on board with anything they do.

Putting Diaz in there with Hendricks right off the bat would mean that he's fought three title fights in a row, and lost two of them. I know the UFC like to go where the money is, but that's ridiculous. Christ, even Chael wouldn't get that kind of treatment.

 

It's for that reason I don't see it happening. I see either MacDonald or Woodley for Hendricks next.

 

I wonder if Diaz will still come back if he's offered a non title fight first? In his interview at the weekend he made it clear that he's not interested in the other contenders, he just wants a title fight. I'm sure everyone in the top fucking ten at 170lbs thinks the same, Nick! They all want tile fights as well without having to fight contenders!

 

Hendrick's may go on to be a surprise PPV star though. The dislike thing for him recently i never really got, it pretty much all stemmed from the fact that he was upset about losing his title fight to GSP, did anyone actually dislike Hendrick's before that? It's like fans were hating on him for being passionate about he does, weird really. The guy's getting into the habit of having great fights though. 3 FOTN's in a row, and 6 bonuses in his last 8 fights (Hendrick's aint hard off for money), the beardy, hard nosed scrapper, he's got a gimmick so to speak (which helps), and judging by Saturday night he's got a massive Texas following (the biggest attendence ever for a UFC in the UFC), things are looking up.

Remember when Randy, Tito, Chuck,Hughes and the rest of the "old guard" retired or started sliding? New guys came along and became the stars of the sport. The same will happen again, and Hendricks could be one of those guys.

 

Within a year or two we'll be talking about a whole host of new stars who are pulling in the crowds, I guarantee it.

[jimufctna24]

Hendrick's may go on to be a surprise PPV star though. The dislike thing for him recently i never really got, it pretty much all stemmed from the fact that he was upset about losing his title fight to GSP, did anyone actually dislike Hendrick's before that? It's like fans were hating on him for being passionate about he does, weird really.

It is not that, most who dislike him agree he was ripped off by the GSP verdict. Its the way in which he moaned.

 

7:50 here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlhB7rZwf4A.

 

Around 9:30 he says "lets give him 2 rounds because he is the Champion" What? GSP clearly won round 3 and modestly won round 5. nothing to do with GSP being Champion.

 

I feel he is overstating the extent to which he won. "One sided", how can a fight be one sided when you lose 2 out of 5 rounds. Maybe in terms of damage it was "one sided", but not in terms of the verdict. 3-2 is close by any measurement. Some experts felt GSP won round 1, I disagree but there is a debate there.

 

His voice is annoying also, and he hangs around with Mark Laimon.

[David]

Yeah, I don't think any of those are real reasons to dislike Hendricks. Grasping at straws a little!

[jimufctna24]

Yeah, I don't think any of those are real reasons to dislike Hendricks. Grasping at straws a little!

Fair enough, you might have a point.

 

Something about him just annoys me, he has traits that fighters I like have, but for some reason with Hendricks I can not overlook them. I do rate him as a fighter, but as a person, not my cup of tea.

[David]

Yeah, I don't think any of those are real reasons to dislike Hendricks. Grasping at straws a little!

Fair enough, you might have a point.

 

Something about him just annoys me, he has traits that fighters I like have, but for some reason with Hendricks I can not overlook them. I do rate him as a fighter, but as a person, not my cup of tea.

As a person he's probably the nicest guy in MMA! He's the ultimate everyman, isn't he? A blue collar, truck driving, glasses wearing, regular dude!

[jimufctna24]

As a person he's probably the nicest guy in MMA! He's the ultimate everyman, isn't he? A blue collar, truck driving, glasses wearing, regular dude!

He probably is a nice bloke. Heck Frank Mir comes across as a nice guy and a family man, but some people bloody hate him. I just feel in that video he acts like he is self-entitled, and seemed to like the sound of his own voice a little too much. Yes, he was mostly justified, but he winged in such a way that it annoyed me.

 

Nick Diaz is a complete cretin if I am honest, but his moaning and whinging I cannot take seriously unlike Hendrick's moaning, and I actually find Diaz mildly amusing, hence why I quite like him. Disliking Diaz would be like disliking the village idiot.

 

Chael Sonnen I find quite personable and charming when he is not going all out with his pro wrestling antics. Chael can say things that are outright bollocks, but because he is charming and personable he gets away from my dissent. Hendricks just lacks a certain endearing quality, it is a double standard as he has not done anything deviant, he just rubs me the wrong the way.

 

And again that voice is annoying, and he hangs around with Mark Laimon

[wandshogun09]

People just like or dislike people sometimes. There doesn't have to be a real reason. Like sometimes you meet someone and within a minute, for no reason you can put your finger on, you take a bit of a disliking to them.

 

There's something about Hendricks I find a bit irritating. It's never been a really strong dislike for me, but he's not a guy I find myself rooting for or warming to really. Plus he always seems to be fighting against guys I prefer lately. The GSP fight, I wasn't that arsed on who won going in but I kind of wanted GSP to retire as champion so I guess I rooted for him. Condit and Lawler, there's not many guys at all who I'd root for over those two.

 

It's not like he seems like a real prick or anything (like Mir), he's just hard to really like for me. I found the hate Weidman has got since the Anderson fights more baffling to be honest. I don't get that. Like Hendricks, he's not what you'd call super likeable but it genuinely seems like people hate him because he had the cheek to beat Anderson Silva more than anything. You'd think the whole underdog story of him coming back from injuries and his house getting wrecked by a Hurricance to beat the greatest fighter in MMA twice, people would be kind of happy for him, but no. He gets blasted because Anderson taunted in the first fight and broke his leg in the second fight. How either of those things are Weidman's fault, I don't know, but it seems like he's got quite a lot of haters which he never had before those fights. I don't really know what he did other than try to win.

 

So if it's alright to irrationally dislike Weidman, it's alright to irrationally dislike Hendricks. But the truth is, you can like or dislike whoever the fuck you want.

 

All that said, I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt quite happy for Hendricks Saturday night. With the way the GSP fight went, then how awesome the Lawler fight was, and him finally winning in his hometown. Then the pictures with his kids with the belt. It takes a cold bastard (I'm looking at you, Jim) to not think 'fair play' and feel some level of happiness for the bloke.

 

Hendrick's may go on to be a surprise PPV star though. The dislike thing for him recently i never really got, it pretty much all stemmed from the fact that he was upset about losing his title fight to GSP, did anyone actually dislike Hendrick's before that? It's like fans were hating on him for being passionate about he does, weird really.

 

To be fair, I don't think it started with the GSP decision. I remember opinion always being fairly split on Hendricks, on here and everywhere else I read. He's got a bit of a Marmite quality. My opinion on him never altered after the GSP fight anyway. The only time I recall fans being pretty much universally pro-Hendricks was when he starched Fitch in 12 seconds. That was so unexpected. Even when Hendricks got passed over for the title shot in favour of Diaz, I think most fans felt bad for him but it still wasn't like he was loved before the loss to GSP.

 

Personally I see him implementing a more wrestling-based gameplan if he fights Diaz. He'll score points with the takedowns, and he'll obviously be looking to land the big shot if it's there.

 

I can't see Diaz winning that fight if I'm honest. I'd be looking at a Hendricks unanimous decision all day long.

 

Yeah, the blueprint to beat Diaz has been out there for years and GSP showed it perfectly. Hendricks has the tools to do similar. He probably would trade with Diaz more than GSP did but I think he'd struggle with Diaz's reach to be honest and would end up wisely just negating that with the wrestling. I actually thought Diaz showed improvements against GSP in that he was able to get up more than I expected once he was taken down. But that was it. He was able to get up but couldn't break GSP's grip so he'd get dragged straight back down.

 

I think it'd be a good fight though. But one I wouldn't give Diaz much chance in.

[jimufctna24]

It takes a cold bastard (I'm looking at you, Jim) to not think 'fair play' and feel some level of happiness for the bloke.

I felt happy for his daughter, and I acknowledge that he is worthy Champion. He beat Lawler clean, and I felt he beat GSP even though he did not get the nod.

 

That is the most you are getting.

[wandshogun09]

There you go, I knew you had it in you.

 

But there's no way Hendricks is the nicest guy in MMA, like David suggests. Certainly not while JDS is still in MMA. Big Nog and Shogun as well, and if we're including the women (because I know Dave would want to, big fan of WMMA as he is), Cat Zingano and Joanne Calderwood also.

[jimufctna24]

There is a difference between nice and likable.

 

I would suggest Frank Mir is quite a nice guy, but likable? A lot of people would say no. Same with Hendricks. is he likable in my opinion? No, is he a nice guy? Probably.

 

JDS ticks both boxes.

 

Don Frye I would not say is an outright "nice guy", he is not a bad guy or anything, but you would not exactly say he comes across as personable and friendly as say JDS. But is Don Frye likable? Yep.

[David]

But there's no way Hendricks is the nicest guy in MMA, like David suggests. Certainly not while JDS is still in MMA. Big Nog and Shogun as well, and if we're including the women (because I know Dave would want to, big fan of WMMA as he is), Cat Zingano and Joanne Calderwood also.

Nah, there's something about Dos Santos. He's a little too nice. Probably an act if I'm honest.

 

Big Rig all the way baby!