Why Johnny Hendricks and Carlos Condit weren’t matched for UFC on Fox 4 I have no idea. As entertaining as Shogun vs Vera will be, a title fight would presumably attract a bigger audience on virtue alone. A title fight headlining a Fox card makes absolutely perfect sense. We’re all trying to second guess Zuffa here and figure out what their game plan for their Fox cards is but to tell you the truth, there is one axiom we are all forgetting. Zuffa believe that every UFC card is world class and deserves prime-time national attention. So whether it’s Shogun taking on Vera or Condit defending his interim strap, the result is the same to Zuffa: world class MMA.
With that said, I don’t think Johnny Hendricks gives a damn where he fights Condit, only that he does. He made an appearance on MMAjunkie.com Radio recently and told them how upset he is that Condit told Inside MMA that he would be willing to defend his belt against Martin Kampmann. Since beating Fitch and Koscheck, you could argue that Hendricks should be the next guy to fight for the title. Hendricks certainly argues that. As he said to MMAjunkie Radio:
“We have an interim belt, and interim belts are for one reason: for people to be able to still fight for a title. I feel like I’ve done everything I could to get that No. 1 spot, and somebody else is keeping it from me. I don’t get upset about many things, but I feel like I’ve done what I could to put me where I’m at today. The good Lord has blessed me. The fans have been awesome, and I’ve gone out there and done everything I could to put me in a situation for the belt. Carlos Condit is in my way. He really is. If I can’t fight him, and he won’t fight other people, now who do I fight?”
It’s hard to argue with the man’s reasoning, aside from the part about the Lord blessing him. I’d argue that his own hard work has blessed him but maybe that’s an argument for another day. Today, I agree with him that he shouldn’t have to do anything else to earn a fight with Carlos Condit. [source]
