Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler.

He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Welterweight Champion.

Hendricks was born in Ada, Oklahoma.

He was a three-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion and was a two-time high school national champion while at Edmond Memorial High School.

His final high school record was 101–5.

He would go on to attend college at Oklahoma State University (OSU).

After a 10–0 redshirt season in 2003, Hendricks finished 5th in the nation at 157 pounds in 2004, while compiling a 37–7 record.

Hendricks moved up to 165 pounds for the next three seasons.

He won the 2005 and 2006 Big 12 titles and NCAA Division I national championships.

He was 27–4 in 2005 and 29–1 in 2006.

Going into the 2007 national championships final match, Hendricks had a record of 34–0 for the season and had won his third straight Big 12 title along the way.

He suffered an upset loss to Mark Perry from the University of Iowa and finished 2nd in the nation.

The four-time All-American for OSU finished with a college record of 159–13.

After graduating from OSU in 2007, Hendricks moved to Las Vegas and trained at Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu under Marc Laimon, along with two other former OSU wrestlers, Shane Roller and Jake Rosholt.

Hendricks then later moved to Texas and signed with Team Takedown.

This elite fighter management team funds fighters' training and splits his profits.

Hendricks would go on to have his first career mixed martial arts (MMA) fight only seven months after his last collegiate wrestling match.

He made his professional MMA debut on September 28, 2007, in which he scored a third-round controversial TKO victory over Victor Rackliff at Masters of the Cage 16 held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Rackliff was getting the better of the exchanges on the feet and he rocked Hendricks in the 3rd when both fighters exchanged punches.

Hendricks fought once more in 2007, defeating Spencer Cowley by second-round TKO at Snakebite Fight Night held in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Hendricks won his television debut on March 15, 2008, with a first-round submission victory over Richard Gamble at HDNet Fights Xtreme Fighting League, also in Tulsa.

Hendricks, Roller and Rosholt signed multi-fight deals with World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

While in the WEC, Hendricks defeated Justin Haskins on December 3, 2008 at WEC 37.

Next, Hendricks defeated Alex Serdyukov via unanimous decision on March 1, 2009 at WEC 39.

which was the last 170-pound bout in WEC history due to the company's decision to dissolve its welterweight division and focus on lighter weight fighters.

With the WEC eliminating his weight class, Hendricks had to find another place to fight and signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In May 2009, it was announced that Hendricks would be making his UFC debut against Ultimate Fighter 7 champion Amir Sadollah at UFC 101 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 8, 2009.

In the opening seconds of the first round, Hendricks blocked a high head kick from Sadollah and countered with an uppercut, knocking Sadollah to his knees.

Hendricks continued to land punches until referee Dan Miragliotta pulled him off and ended the fight 29 seconds into the first round.

Some people criticized Miragliotta for stopping the fight too early, as Sadollah seemed to be trying to get up, but Miragliotta defended his stoppage, saying Sadollah was "out of it" and "still looked glassy eyed and asked me what happened."

Hendricks faced promotional newcomer Ricardo Funch on December 12, 2009, at UFC 107.

Hendricks won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–25).

Hendricks next faced T. J. Grant on May 8, 2010, at UFC 113.

Hendricks won the bout via majority decision, improving his record to 3–0 in the UFC.

He next faced Charlie Brenneman on August 7, 2010, at UFC 117.

Hendricks defeated him via TKO in the second round.

Hendricks fought Rick Story on December 4, 2010, at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale.

Hendricks lost via unanimous decision.

Hendricks was expected to face Paulo Thiago on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann.

However, Thiago was forced out of the bout with an elbow injury.