Rick Story, only man to beat Johny Hendricks, helps St-Pierre prepare for UFC 167

MONTREAL – UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is pulling out all the stops ahead of UFC 167, and that includes bringing in a fighter with a special type of insight on his opponent, Johny Hendricks.

For what many consider to be St-Pierre’s (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC) most difficult fight in years, “Rush” opted to recruit Rick Story to his training camp, the fighter responsible for the lone blemish on Hendricks’ (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) MMA record.

As the only man to defeat Hendricks, Story (15-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC) believes the decision to use him as a training partner for the last six weeks of camp at Tristar Gym in Montreal was a no-brainer by the champion’s coaching staff.

“Firas Zahabi really wanted me to come train with Georges, and since I was the only person to beat Johny Hendricks, it makes sense that Firas was pretty persistent,” Story told MMAjunkie.

Even though Hendricks has improved dramatically since his December 2010 loss to Story, “The Horror” was still able to share some fundamental advice with the reigning welterweight champion.

The most noteworthy of that advice? Put Hendricks on the defensive and make one of the sport’s most devastating power punchers fight while moving backward.

“Take the fight to him,” Story said of his advice to St-Pierre. “Johny has everyone backing up, and then if someone tries to get him to go backwards, Johny will take them down.

“I took the fight to Johny, that’s the only difference, so that’s what I emphasized.”

With Story having his own fight scheduled against Brian Ebersole at UFC 167, the ability to train alongside St-Pierre and Tristar teammate Rory MacDonald, who also fights at the event, was a dream situation for the American.

Coming off a debatable split decision loss to Mike Pyle in his most recent outing, a victory Saturday is paramount for Story’s job security with the promotion.

That’s why he couldn’t have been any happier about sharing one of the most important training camps of his career alongside a top pound-for-pound fighter.

“[Preparing together] just makes everything easier,” Story said. “You don’t have to choreograph different intensity between the rounds. You don’t have to choreograph different time frames in the rounds. It really makes the training easy because we can pair up with each other and go at it.”

While getting ready for his own fight is Story’s top priority, he knows the main purpose of his time in Montreal was to benefit St-Pierre.

With 15 minutes of cage time against Hendricks and numerous training sessions with St-Pierre under his belt, the 29-year-old has a pretty strong grasp on what both men bring to the table.

So when asked how he thinks the fight will play out, Story obviously sided with his training partner, but also wasn’t willing to dismiss the possibility of crowning a new welterweight champion at UFC 167.

“Anybody’s got a chance when it comes to the fighting game, especially at the top level,” Story said. “It only takes one punch, and Johny’s been knocking everyone out. He’s doing something right to get to where he needs to be – he’s fighting against Georges for the title.

“As far as Georges’ weapons and his athleticism and all his tools that he has in his box that he can pull out and use at any time, I really can see Georges winning the fight.”

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