Dana White: Winner of UFC 158 Co-Headliner to Become Top Welterweight Contender

UFC President Dana White announced the news Thursday during a pre-fight press conference, revealing that the winner of Johny Hendricks’ showdown with Carlos Condit will be regarded as the top contender at 170 pounds. UFC 158 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal and is headlined by Georges St. Pierre’s welterweight title defense against former Strikeforce ruler Nick Diaz.

Hendricks, 29, has won five straight fights since suffering the lone loss of his career to Rick Story in 2010. “Bigg Rigg” fought twice last year, taking a split decision from former title contender Josh Koscheck before knocking out well-rounded Dane Martin Kampmann in just 46 seconds at UFC 154.

Condit, 28, was initially supposed to rematch Rory MacDonald at UFC 158 but was later paired with Hendricks after “Ares” withdrew due to injury. Condit saw a five-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, as “The Natural Born Killer” came up short in his bid to wrest the title from around the waist of St. Pierre last November.