Johny Hendricks interview : Speakers & Interviews

Awesome interview Gene!

people will burn dana white at the stake when a mma fighter dies in the ufc which probably won't, but may, happen. that doesn't take away the fact that only 2 fighters (douglas dege and sam vasquez) have died in mma and only 1 in a sanctioned fight (sam Vasquez). how many have died in boxing? Hundreds in the past fifteen years. the reason is because all you train in boxing is sparring and conditioning. in mma you wrestle, spar, grapple, condition, practice throws, etc. there is less pounding on your skull in mma because of shorter fights of not just getting punched in the head. It may be more violent but because it is it is also safer. if you get punched good you get ko'ed but in boxing you may survive the punch just to get more punishment. I dont advise that you watch the video of doug dedge dying but he tried to stand up like it was a boxing match, which imo killed him

Thats ridiculous. The effects of repeated head trauma could take decades to manifest. Look at the football players who played decades ago who now show the effects of repeated head trauma. I've been a longtime boxing fan and enjoy watching MMA but there's no getting around the truth that people who stay in the sport too long and sustain repeated head trauma (particularly those with poor defensive skills) will have early dementia and post-concussive syndrome later in life. The human brain was not meant to be pounded. Those entering the sport deserve to know the risks. The statements made here minimizing the risks aren't backed up by any medical data. You can't say that because there haven't been any deaths that brain injury is not occurring. Brain injury is a slow gradual process.

i'd like someone to point out one MMA pro fighter who has permanent head trauma. also, since it's sanctioning in 1993, there have been 0 deaths related to competition in MMA. there have been over 10 in boxing in that same amount of time. all the best to johny, loved his last fight.

@Robert: It has been proven that Boxing has a higher chance of permanent brain damage than MMA because constant impact (boxing jab, absorbing punches) causes much more severe problems than one big right hand.

Not saying I'm an expert on the subject, just repeating what I've heard.

this guy does not get nervous.....3x NCAA Finalist. In front of 13,000 fans. See Churella Finals....does that look like a guy who is nervous. Mo Fo Beast.
Martin u da man!!!!!!!!!!! (even if peoples comments get edited and reposted on ur site)

the difference between mma trauma and boxing trauma is that mma is more violent and quick while boxing is slow and repeated head trauma, which in my opinion is far more dangerous in the ways of brain damage. also boxin gloves are like a pound which adds more trauma. and mma mixes styles so you dont always have to train getting punched in the head. some days you will spar other wrestle others grapple and others conditioning. mma is safer in those ways. only 2 people have died in mma and only 1 in a sanctioned match. compare that to boxings hundreds in the past fifteen years.barely anyone has even been seriously hurt. but trauma is trauma so neither are a pillow fight, but mma, i believe is safer.

I think he'll end up with that belt.

This guy is great, he looks like Paul Bunyan. If he makes it big, he should bring an Ox in with him as he walks down to he cage. The beard is great.

http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/bunyan2.jpg

i would definitely get excited about johny hendricks being on a fight card and would absolutely watch. all mma guys must have boxing skills or they will look weak. i hope the best for this cool dude.

There is a fine line between being tough, and being stupid. MMA crosses that line.

I'm a physician and a former college wrestler. I've watched a fair amount of MMA recently and must agree that the fighters are certainly at risk for permanent brain damage. In boxing at the higher levels the boxers have excellent defensive skills and often slip punches or know how to absorb the punch by turning their heads. I don't see any of these skills in MMA even at the higher levels. They often have poor defensive skills and just take the punches straight on and hope to not get knocked out. Yes they have good skills on the mat but I see very little head movement like you see at the higher levels in boxing. Very good scientific data has shown that it doesn't matter what is making contact with the head (punch, soccerball, linebackers chest) repeated blows to the head end up causing permanent damage to the brain over time.

I can't say enough how much I loved to hate this guy when he was at OSU, but he just keeps growing on me. I just like his attitude and whenever there is an interview with him I make sure to watch it.

He's trying to look like a bad a$$, but he sounds like a little kid.

This is absolutely not true. While the study is true, you are making an extremely poor correlation. Not saying that MMA fighters will not get head trauma but that the type of trauma boxers get will not be present in MMA.

The problem with boxing is the gloves. In one round a boxer will get more jarring and rattling of the brain than in a whole fight or career possibly in MMA. The gloves spread out the force so the damage is not localized enough to cause immediate and severe damage. But it still damages the brain the same.
In MMA you see very little jabbing, and most punches are fairly hard. So one or 2 direct shots and the opponent will probably be almost done. In one round a boxer may get hit in the head 30+ times. How many complete MMA fights have you seen a guy get hit to the head more than 10+ times and the fight still continue?
All fighting and sport for that matter has the possibility for permanent and severe hard to the participants. But I believe that MMA will prove out over time to be safer for the participants than boxing. I also believe careers will be much shorter.

You will see less mixed martial artists with these types of head injuries. In MMA you have less sustained strikes to the head than you get in boxing. I'm not saying that they aren't taking a lot of heavy shots, but it's not nearly as much as in boxing.

In MMA you have more than just punches and kicks to the head, you also have the body and the legs. In addition, the number of fighters that you see taking sustained damage while standing is lower due to the fact that in MMA they can go the ground. MMA is a safer sport because of this.
I know that you can list fights that have had fighters that did not go to the ground when they were out on their feet, but they are more the exception than the rule.

Ken quit being such a square!

I ahve one thing to say about UFC that most of you will not like.
Becasue of the amount of punching and head trauma these athletes are going
to run the risk of ending up like Ali and now Frazier with parkison like symptoms. There is a very high correlation to concussions/blows to the head
and these type of parkinson related head injuries.

who did he fight?

Alright. I loved watching Johny wrestle. He was and is one of the toughest guys out there. What he did for wrestling was great. I am excited to follow his mma career. Great interview Gene.

Interesting, that's kind of surprising initially but I guess it makes sense if he's been in the big situation like that before.