The Doggy Bag: The Georges and Anderson Edition

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How do you think Johny Hendricks measures up as an opponent for Georges St. Pierre? Everybody and their mother wants the Anderson Silva fight, but I love seeing champs defend their titles. Hendricks is the most accomplished wrestler GSP has fought and probably the hardest puncher, too. I'm just not sure if that means he actually has a better chance to win than Josh Koscheck or Carlos Condit, though. How do you size up GSP and Hendricks and when do you think we will see them fight? -- Nicholas from Jackson

TJ De Santis, Sherdog Radio Network program director: GSP is an amazing athlete and clearly one of the best mixed martial artists we have seen. The year-and-a-half layoff raised a lot of questions about him and whether or not he would ever be the same. Yet, at UFC 154, he was as stellar as ever.

The super fight between Anderson Silva and GSP does get my juices flowing. However, if the consolation prize is St. Pierre-Hendricks, how can we go wrong? The welterweight division needed some time to mature and really flesh out some new, interesting contenders for the French-Canadian. Hendricks has proven in his last two or three fights that he and his left hand are legitimate threats to the champion and his title.

Hendricks is everything Koscheck is, but with more power. His left hook compliments a celebrated wrestling pedigree that earned him All-American honors four times and two NCAA wrestling titles at Oklahoma State University. If anyone can make a claim as a serious threat to St. Pierre, at least in the wrestling department, it is Hendricks. Can he do it in an MMA fight, though? I am not sure.

The Team Takedown product has ridiculous power in his left hand, but can he touch St. Pierre with it? Hendricks' reach measures 69 inches, while GSP measures at 76 inches. If you recall in the Koscheck matchup, Georges frustrated him with his jab. He would try to do that with Hendricks in their potential matchup, and the wrestling might never matter.

Here is where it gets interesting, though. If GSP looks for takedowns without properly setting them up, Hendricks can sprawl on him, and his front headlock is nothing you want to hang out in for a prolonged period of time. The Oklahoman is very good at setting things up from that position.

I can't endorse Hendricks outright as the man to be the next welterweight champion, since St. Pierre has dispatched a lot of men that come from the same base. However, the left hook should weigh heavy in the champion's mind. If he can't take down Hendricks and makes a mistake like he did against Carlos Condit with Hendricks' left hook in play, it would be the end to one of the UFC's greatest title reigns.