In a battle of top contenders, two of the best welterweights on the planet delivered big, giving fans a full three rounds of brutal, nonstop action. In the end it would be the relentless takedowns of Johny Hendricks that would be the difference as he was awarded the unanimous decision on all three cards with scores of 29-28.
Johny Hendricks immediately found his range, landing that patented, crushing left hand to start the co-main event. Condit shook off the first one, but ate another one as Hendricks kept coming forward. Condit looked to get out of range but Hendricks continued to land big shots before taking the fight to the mat. Hendricks did little from the top before Condit created enough space to make his way back to his feet. Hendricks again landed big with his left hand in a brutal exchange. Condit fired back, landing inside with knees and short punches. After the fight hit the mat, Condit used a kimura attempt to reverse position, then got to his feet again before landing a front kick right down the middle. Another exchange put an exclamation mark on an action-packed first round.
Condit looked to use his reach to start the second but a lunging Hendricks connected again, this time with a right hand while closing the distance. Condit responded with a flying knee before being taken back down to the mat. Condit again got back to his feet, then landed his kicks from the outside. Hendricks went right back to his leaping left hand before working Condit back to the mat. After the action got back to the feet, Condit went to work with knees inside, while mixing in punches to the body. Hendricks immediately ducked in and went to his power double leg takedown to put Condit on his back once again. Although Condit stayed very active and scored from his back, the repeated takedowns continued as the round wore down.
After possibly suffering an injury to his left hand, Hendricks went straight to his takedown game to start the third. Condit used an active guard to prevent damage, while inflicting damage of his own with elbows and punches from his back. Condit used a kimura attempt to get back to his feet once again, but Hendricks went right back to his powerful left hand before taking Condit right back down to the mat. After getting back to his feet, Condit landed a crushing right hand that forced Hendricks to clinch. “The Natural Born Killer” then went high with his kick but again gave up another takedown. Again, the action returned to the feet with Condit landing a big flurry to finish off a strong third round.
With scores of 29-28 across the board, Johny Hendricks (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) secured his status as the #1 contender with an exciting unanimous decision victory.