• UFC 158

St-Pierre open to Hendricks, hints at Anderson Silva

ESPN staff
March 17, 2013

UFC president Dana White confirmed Johny Hendricks is the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division after Saturday's memorable victory over Carlos Condit, but Georges St-Pierre appeared to open the door to a super-fight with Anderson Silva.

Hendricks went on the offensive to take a unanimous decision against Condit at UFC 158, hammering him with left hands and landing nine takedowns in a Fight of the Year contender.

He has now won six in a row in a stacked 170lb division, and White confirmed: "Hendricks is the No. 1 contender. Done."

However, being No. 1 contender does not necessarily mean he will be the next man to fight St-Pierre - a winner over Nick Diaz - if the champion opts to finally meet middleweight king Silva.

St-Pierre was first asked if he wanted to fight Hendricks, to which he replied without giving a cast-iron green light: "I did not see his fight, it seemed it was a back-and-forth fight, very good, and he deserves the title shot. He's a very tough guy. Whoever the UFC wants, I'll fight."

GSP was then quizzed as to whether Silva was still on his radar, and he appeared to suggest that he felt more confident about the prospect after coming through tough bouts with Condit and Diaz.

"Everybody asked me about Anderson (last year) and I was just coming back from injury. I've now had two fights so I'm happy," he said.

"Anderson, he now fights Weidman, don't count Chris Weidman beaten. He's amazing, you could have a surprise.

"It depends on the outcome of that. I don't know what's going to happen. I've just been hit on the head and you're asking me all these questions - I don't quite know what's going on!"

As for Diaz, he added to his threat of retirement but also called for a rematch with St-Pierre. "I am trying to retire but I want a rematch," he said. "I don't want to fight any of these young kids but I will fight GSP again."

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