Everybody who said they were a better striker than me, I’ve beat them. Carlos Condit has better striking than you. Guess where I beat him? On the feet. Martin Kampmann has better striking than you. I beat him on the feet. Robbie Lawler has better boxing. I beat him on the feet. Whenever I hear people sit there and say ‘he’s a better striker than you’, I’m like really? Why do you think he’s a better striker than me? Because he did karate for his whole entire life? Who cares… I’m looking at this fight as a title fight. Because if I lose this fight I have to do two more to get back to where I want to be. So this is my title fight and everyone from here on out is going to be that. Whenever I look at him, I do know this is the best Stephen Thompson I’m going to fight because if he beats me, he might be able to get a title shot. So I need to make sure I’m focused on the task at hand and that’s why we’re saying one fight at a time. I just want to make sure I’m focused on him because if I start focusing too much on the title, then I lose focus on him. You don’t make it into the top 10 without being somebody so I know it’s going to be a tough fight. I can’t wait.
-Johny Hendricks talks to FoxSports.com about his fight with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC Fight Night 82 Saturday night, and why he’s not afraid to strike with him.
Penick’s Analysis: I think that’s some selective memory on some of those wins, but it’s certainly not as if he’s been incapable of competing on the feet against good strikers. He’s at his best when he’s mixing things up and effectively using his wrestling in conjunction with his striking. He’s got power, though many of his stoppage wins have come against lesser competition, but he might very well be able to put Thompson out on Saturday. That would do a lot towards getting him back into title contention, and if he can go in Saturday and knock Thompson out, the UFC may be willing to give him that title fight again.
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