Johny Hendricks Talks UFC 200, His Legacy, and a Rematch with GSP
Ask any sports psychologist: stressing over one’s own legacy is a terrible, no good, very bad idea. And yet, UFC fighters do it all the time. Can you blame them? Their legacies are on the line every bout. All it takes is one KO or tap out to turn a triumphant media darling into a humbled and exiled underdog (see also: McGregor, Conor; Rousey, Ronda).
But that also means those legacies are malleable. You’ve got a chance to rewrite your career’s narrative every time you step into the octagon. It’s a bold proposition; the kind that makes retired greats like Georges St-Pierre want to lace them up again. The kind that makes it feel like Johny Hendricks — who GSP faced last — is about to fight the most important bout of his career.
With just three fights left on his UFC contract, Hendricks has a lot riding on his match against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old former UFC welterweight champ is coming off his first TKO defeat (against Stephen Thompson) and will have nothing short of everything to prove: that he’s still one of the best fighters in the game, that he deserves another title shot, and that he’d be ready for a rematch against GSP (who, by the way, he’s got some choice words for).
Not that Bigg Rigg is concerned about all that. When we sat down with the brawny Oklahoman, he seemed in a Zen state, his mind completely clear of all the extraneous ‘what-ifs’ and focused only on the things that matter. Like handing Gastelum his ass. He dished to us on the big fight, his reputation, and, of course, a certain closely shorn Quebecer.
Let’s start this off generally: why do you fight?
I love the competition. Fighting is a second-to-second moment. Every second matters. You hear people talk about that. The average person understands what a second means, but [snaps fingers] — that’s how long you have to either move out of the way of a punch or get your hands up for a kick. It’s always been about what I can do to better myself. When I first started fighting, it was, ‘How can I protect my family?’
That’s very primal.
Yeah. I always have a gun. I live in Texas. I always have a gun on me. But, let’s say I can’t get to my gun. What if I’m at a movie theater or, you know, a gun free zone? Can I protect my family with my life? Now I can honestly say I can. Before I couldn’t. When I first started, I thought I was tough. I thought I could do it and I ended up getting knocked out by a guy who’s been fighting for, by that time, 14 years. It gave me a realization that maybe I can’t do everything I thought I could.
So the first time you got knocked out as an amateur fighter, you learned something. Last February, you got KO’d for the first time in your professional career. What did you learn this time?
My mindset [going into that fight] was always weight cut first, Thompson second. And that was my bad. That weight cut was so important for me, but my body shut down. I’ve cut weight for nine years in fighting, ten years in wrestling — so almost 20 years of my life has been cutting weight. Is there a point in my life, where my body just says, ‘You’re done?’ After that fight I literally took a step back and was like, ‘I want to fight some more and I want to do it at welterweight. Can I still do it?’ Yeah, I could still make it. And Stephen, he’s a tough fighter. You fight enough tough level opponents, you’re gonna get clocked. Three years now I fought nobody outside the Top 5. It’s not an excuse but it’s just factors. The more you fight high-level people, the more risk of you running into things, right? Until it happens. Then you say, ‘Okay, now my clock has to reset.’
What should we expect in your fight against Kelvin?
With Kelvin, I’ve got to go back to the same mindset. I’m not worried about finishing people. I never used to worry about finishing people — until I started finishing people. Then I started looking for the finish instead of thinking it’s a 15-minute fight. I’m truly believing that this time. I’ve got 15 minutes. If it happens in the first round, that’s cool. If it happens in the first 10 seconds, that’s cool, but I’m not looking for it. I’m just gonna lay everything out there. Once I start going back to that mindset, that’s when finishes start happening for me.
He said recently in an interview that he’s going to go “full blast” against you.
Well, that’s perfectly fine. Here’s the thing: if Kelvin doesn’t, he’s an idiot. And no offence, but that’s stupid on his part to ever say anything but that. You know what I mean? I know where I want to be and, yeah, I lost my last one. It sucked. But I’ve picked myself back up. I’m going to be a better fighter for that. So he’s going to get the better fighter this fight.
You know, a lot of people thought you were the better fighter in GSP’s last fight.
Yeah, I think 76 per cent of the fans thought I won that fight. Even (UFC President) Dana White did. As soon as he said what he did in that interview, I was like, ‘Heh, that makes everything better, but it really doesn’t.’ Because that belt should have come home with me. But, again, any time something bad happens to me, I always say the good Lord wanted me to learn something. I always give God the credit for everything he does for me. But there are also times where he wants you to take a step back and learn. What do I need to do to make myself better?
GSP recently announced he wants to return to the UFC. What do you think about that?
My thoughts right now are on Kevin Gastelum. The GSP thing, it is what it is. I think he needs to stay retired. Let everybody remember who you were. Because here’s the thing: yeah, you’ve been out of it for two years. Well guess what. I think I can still go back and compete with those collegiate wrestlers. I think I could still go back and win a national title. Could I? I’ve been out of it for so long. Even though I still go back, it takes me two days of wrestling to get back into where I can somewhat compete with those guys. And even though GSP’s training, it’s different. You’ve got great examples of what not to do. I like Matt Hughes to death. Great guy. But stay retired. You got Chuck Liddell. Retired. Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell are my two biggest idols, and whenever I’ve heard they’re coming back, I was like ‘No!’ Because there’s always a time and a place. There’s always somebody bigger and better and now the UFC is getting to where there are more athletes getting into this sport. When Randy and Chuck came in it, not a lot of athletes were going into the sport. Because, you know, in 2002, how many fans did the UFC have? A couple million? Now what is it at? It’s worldwide! So now, you’ve got little kids who are 10 years old, who are saying, ‘Hey Johny, you’re my idol. I want to fight like you.’ I’m teaching right now; I’m teaching some jiu-jitsu and also wrestling, for MMA. And they’re little kids! I’m like, ‘You guys will be beasts by the time you get to 18 or 19 years old!’
So would you be down for a rematch with GSP?
Yeah, if he wants it. Like I said, right now it’s Kelvin. Yeah, after that, if Dana White said, ‘Hey, Johny. Rematch?’ I’d be like, if we have to fight at 185, I’ll do it at 185. You don’t want to cut down to 170? I’m alright with that. Hey, by all means. There’s a part of me that wouldn’t want to do it, because like I said, let people remember who he was. Not what he is now. Over the last year and a half, we’ve picked up a lot of fans, so everybody’s still talking about how great GSP was. Let them keep thinking that. But if he comes back and they see one or two fights and they’re like, ‘He just got beat up.’ Then the image isn’t there. Just like Anderson Silva. He tried to come back way too quick! Now where’s he at? And trust me. As an athlete I understand the score. But I also understand times are changing. And the times have changed. So, stay where you’re at. Be happy that you are one of the greatest fighters ever. Keep that image.
What about your image? Your legacy? What do you want it to be?
I think my legacy is already set. It’s not even about me in the UFC. It’s about when somebody comes up to my daughter and says, ‘I was able to talk to your dad and he was a nice person.’ That’s my legacy. That’s all I care about. I don’t care about someone saying. ‘Hey, your dad talks so much trash, he got so many title shots.’ That’s not me. Hey, I’m a simple southern country boy. That’s the way I look at things. I get to raise my kids the exact way I want them to. Be modest. Be controlled. I can literally say, ‘Yeah, I was the best at one point and yeah, I still believe I’m the best. But guess what? I’m modest.’ You lose, you take it on the chin, you build yourself back up. You come back stronger.
