There are 3 welterweight matches on the UFC 141 card, the best being Jon Fitch vs Johny Hendricks. I love this matchup as both fighters come from a NCAA Division I wrestling background so this guarantees a lot of face paced scrambling which makes for a very exciting fight. Don’t forget to tune in this Friday at 7PM ET to catch the full UFC 141: Lesnar vs Overeem event taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Johny Hendricks is the more decorated wrestler but Fitch has been in MMA 5 years longer and has more than double the amount of fights that Hendricks has, both in MMA and in the UFC. Fitch has also had harder fights including two wins over Thiago Alves and a win over Diego Sanchez. They both have wins over Mike Pierce, but Fitch nabbed a unanimous decision win and Hendricks’ was a split decision win.
Johny has already fought twice this year, both fights resulting in wins. Fitch on the other hand fought once this year against BJ Penn and the outcome was a draw. As Johny has a stronger wrestling background and a BJJ Black Belt, I think Fitch will try to keep the fight standing. If the fight goes to the floor Fitch can scramble out and he should be able to stop or reverse most of Hendricks’ wrestling.
Hendricks, 5 years younger, may have a slight wrestling and ground advantage but Fitch has been in MMA longer and has had harder fights. I see Fitch and his team over at American Kickboxing Academy being able to figure out a winning gameplan against Hendricks’ southpaw stance and everything else he brings to the table.
