Johny Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and a former accomplished amateur wrestler.
Collegiate Wrestling Career[]
While competing for Oklahoma State University, Hendricks won the 2005 and 2006[1] NCAA Division I wrestling title at 165-pounds, and he finished second in 2007[2] after falling to Mark Perry from the University of Iowa. The loss to Perry was Hendricks' only one suffered during his senior year at OSU, during which he had compiled a 56-0 record coming into the bout[3].
In addition to his two national championships, Hendricks was a 4-time All-American at OSU and a three-time Big 12 Conference champion (2005, 2006 & 2007)[1]. During his high school wrestling career at Edmond Memorial High School, Hendricks won three Oklahoma state titles and the 160-pound high school national championship.
Early Mixed Martial Arts Career[]
After graduating from OSU in 2007, Hendricks moved to Las Vegas and signed with Team TakeDown[1], along with two other former OSU wrestlers, Shane Roller and Jake Rosholt. Hendricks began training for an MMA career and made his professional MMA debut on September 28, 2007, in which he scored a third round TKO (punches) over Victor Ratcliff at Masters of the Cage 16 from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma[4]. Hendricks fought once more in 2007, and defeated Spencer Cowley with a second round TKO (punches) at Snakebite Fight Night from Tulsa, Oklahoma[5][6].
Hendricks made (and won) his television debut on March 15, 2008 with a first round submission (Brabo Choke) victory over Richard Gamble at HDNet Fights Xtreme Fighting League[7], also from Tulsa, before signing a multi-fight deal with World Extreme Cagefighting (along with Roller and Rosholt)[8].
While in the WEC, Hendricks won two more fights—a December 3, 2008 TKO (strikes) over Justin Haskins at WEC 37[9] (Hendricks' first fight outside of Oklahoma) and a unanimous decision win over Alex “The Russian Crusher” Serdyukov at WEC 39[10], which was the last 170-pound fight in WEC history due to the company's decision to dissolve its welterweight division and focus on lighter fighters[3].
The Move to UFC[]
With the WEC eliminating his weight class, Hendricks had to find another place to fight and chose to make the jump to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In May 2009, it was announced that Hendricks would be making his UFC debut against Ultimate Fighter 7 champion Amir Sadollah at UFC 101 from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 8, 2009[11].
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. After beating Sadollah, he jumped up and ran across the cage with a huge smile on his face, earning him the unofficial nickname "Happy Beard Guy" among fight fans. 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." [12]
Hendricks defeated UFC newcomer Ricardo Funch on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107.[13]
Personal life[]
Johny and his wife Christina have a daughter named Abri who was born on October 18, 2009.[14]
On MMA Junkie Radio, he has announced that he is a fan of Wendy's Baconator sandwich and is an avid video gamer on the XBOX 360, most notably Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Mixed Martial Arts Record[]
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 12 | 7 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 4 | 0 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 2 | 0 |
| Result | Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TJ Grant
|
UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 | May 8, 2010 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||||||
| 7-0 | Win |  Ricardo Funch
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez | December 12, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Memphis, Tennessee, USA | |
| 6-0 | Win |  Amir Sadollah
|
TKO (Punches) | UFC 101: Declaration | August 8, 2009 | 1 | 0:29 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA | |
| 5-0 | Win |  Alex Serdyukov
|
Decision (Unanimous) | WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia | March 1, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Corpus Christi, Texas, USA | Fight of the Night |
| 4-0 | Win | Justin Haskins
|
TKO (Punches) | WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia | December 3, 2008 | 2 | 0:43 | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | |
| 3-0 | Win | Richard Gamble
|
Submission (D'Arce Choke) | HDNet Fights Xtreme Fighting League 1 | March 15, 2008 | 1 | 1:45 | Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA | |
| 2-0 | Win | Spencer Cowley
|
TKO (Punches) | Snakebite Fight Night | November 16, 2007 | 2 | 0:35 | Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA | |
| 1-0 | Win | Victor Ratcliff
|
TKO (Punches) | MOTC XVI: Masters of the Cage 16 | September 28, 2007 | 3 | 1:54 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Team TakeDown Fighter Information
- ↑ 2007 NCAA Wrestling Results
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Win Or Lose, History Awaits Hendricks"
- ↑ Masters of the Cage 16 Results
- ↑ Snakebite Fight Night Results
- ↑ Snakebite Fight Night Results
- ↑ HDNet Fights Xtreme Fighting League 1 Results
- ↑ WEC signs TTD fighters
- ↑ WEC 37 Results
- ↑ WEC 39 Results
- ↑ UFC 101 Card Info
- ↑ Miragliotta Defends Stoppage
- ↑ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Johny-Hendricks-24539
- ↑ "It's a GIRL! Johny Hendricks and his darling wife Christina are proud new parents! (2009-11-14). Retrieved on 2009-11-14.