Morning Report: Johny Hendricks says hand wraps affected striking strategy against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167

After being chided by UFC president Dana White for believing '70% power' 'was enough' to beat welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167, Johny Hendricks now says the fashion he chose to have his hands wrapped before the fight dictated his striking strategy throughout the bout. Speaking with The Dallas Morning News, Hendricks says the choice of a lighter hand wrap forced him to pick and chose his power shots.

I usually get a thick wrap and this time I didn't do that. Instead of me asking for a thicker wrap, I kept my mouth shut. It's my fault. That's on me. It means I hit hard enough that I can punch through the 4 oz gloves. So that's what made my hands get bruised. I couldn't punch as hard as I could (have). The more injured I get, the less I get to use it, the more he gets comfortable, so I had to tone down my power. I was still hurting at 70 percent. Wait till I get a full hand wrap. That only builds confidence, because I beat the pound for pound best fighter in the world. I will be back, and I will be stronger than before.

Hendricks also admits he may have gaffed by allowing St-Pierre to stand up during the fourth round rather than continue scoring from the top position.

Yeah I did let him up. I was beating him everywhere I had him. He wasn't hurting me on the feet. I did some ground and pound. I showed the world I can do that. I want to win by knockout. I don't want to be the person who takes him down and is cautious. I want to make fans happy.

(My grappling coach), he said, "you're 2-1 and best case scenario 3-0." They were giving me round-by round updates. We thought we had it in the bag.

Hendricks, of course, would go on to drop the split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).

5 MUST-READ STORIES

The Boss. Lorenzo Fertitta talks MMA in New York, more UFC in '14 and calms the Dana/GSP storm.

The Champ. Chris Weidman doesn't understand how he can have a 'Chris Weidman Day' in New York while MMA is still illegal.

Welterweight rankings. Get caught up on the new SB Nation welterweight rankings following UFC 167.

Dana vs. Internet. Dana White didn't take kindly to a message board thread calling for him to retire.

Rowdy. After seeing her fighter fail to make weight on TUF, Ronda Rousey cut 17lbs in a day just to prove a point to her team.

MEDIA STEW

UFC 167: Phantom Cam Highlights.

Promos for Invicta FC 7 and DARE MMA.

Bas Rutten and Pat Miletich talk the UFC's future.

Action from KAYO MMA 11:

Saad Saltan vs. John Thompson (skip to 4:00. If you only watch one, this thing hits the DSM trifecta)

Paul Chapman vs. Daniel Shortman. (skip to 4:00)

Josh Airey vs. Roge Gaynor. (skip to 4:00)

Randy Couture chokes out Criss Angel.

Promo for Dana White's new boxing reality show.

Honorio Banario vs Eric Kelly at ONE FC 7. (skip to 8:50)

TWEETS

Get well soon.

Check up time. Getting a CT scan on my neck. #Positive thoughts I think the bone is healed. 🙏 @BellatorMMA don't call it a comeback.

— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) November 21, 2013

The Rousey's are cool with it.

"Thou shalt not say 'fuck you' to assholes" is not a commandment

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) November 21, 2013

People who want to see fighters beaten to the point of concussion, dislocations but think flipping someone off is bad sport - hypocrisy

— DrAnnMaria (@DrAnnMaria) November 21, 2013

Nice to see.

@dc_mma No one got out alive that night. Helluva time my friend, Hell of a time!

— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) November 21, 2013

I've seen trollier.

@Showtimepettis would smash GSP, period! #votesonnen #votepettis @MMAInc

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) November 21, 2013

Kremlin isn't even trying anymore.

If you haven't good wrestling , you will never be a champion pic.twitter.com/9jPmiZ5wqF

— Rustam Khabilov (@KhabilovMMA) November 21, 2013

The Carmen Electra era.

20 anos de UFC! Eu faço parte dessa história! This is a tribute to 20 years of UFC! @ufc @ufc_brasil pic.twitter.com/xjrqINCnGb

— Pedro Rizzo (@pedrorizzo1) November 21, 2013

Interested?

I'm guessing some time in the near future the UFC will do a 115lb TUF. Instead of guys &chics, how about an all women's 115 & 135lb house?

— Tara LaRosa (@TaraLaRosa) November 21, 2013

Today in, 'fighters, somewhere better.'

Jacuzzi in The morning with snow!Jacuzzi na neve pela manha!!Showw 👍✌️😜 http://t.co/lY2iWcJDYB

— Lyoto Machida (@lyotomachidafw) November 21, 2013

Sunset #OffTheWall #Hawaii #Paradise pic.twitter.com/jD1FI4YUH4

— Marcus Almeida (@MarcusBuchecha) November 22, 2013

I LOVE Brazil! Leaving the great town of Florianopolis now on my way 2 São Paulo.. http://t.co/N3D7VWeU4w

— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) November 21, 2013

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Nov. 21 2013)

cancelled Shane del Rosario vs. Guto Inocente at UFC 168

cancelled Thiago Silva vs. Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 35

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via leriksson.

WMMA Preview - November Week 3 - TUF Finale Looms

Quite a few fights were made known during the first week of November for the later part of November. Here's an update + TUF:

TUF Finale

Nov. 30th ... check your local listings

So, the final semi-final fight doesn't air til the final week of November... I'll have something about all the fights closer to the TUF Finale, as of right now Julianna Pena is in the finals. And I believe 4 other girls will be on the card. I think for sure Baszler, Duke, the loser of Pennington/Rakoczy. The leaves all the "M's"...

It would make zero sense for Morgan, unless there was an injury replacement, but Moras' completely lackluster performance against Pena might change things, and Modaferri is a pioneer of WMMA. It should be Moras, though. Modaferri has no business in the UFC, let alone the UFC 135 division.

*

Nov. 23 - SCS 20

115lbs Strawweight

#10 Alida Gray vs. Katie Klimansky (title fight)

Gray is back in action after a devastating KOTY candidate. (it was a pretty entertaining fight, but skip to about 6:00 for KO)

She's been very active to start her career, this being her 4th fight since her June upset victory over Bellator vet, Patricia Vidnonic in her MMA debut. She's been facing girls, you'd normally expect from a new fighter, so she probably doesn't need much game planning, just continued training from fight to fight. Gray utilizes Judo trips, combination punching, and aggressive ground and pound. The Mexican-American should be looking at better fighters after what should be another finish (all her wins are stoppages including amateur fights).

...

Check out the rest of the post here.

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