Josh "Heavy" Hendricks, shown with his Ultimate Fighting Championship belts, is heading to Las Vegas for UFC 91, a huge pay-per-view event being aired on Nov. 15. Hendricks, who now lives in the Medina, Ohio area, is a former local resident who at one time helped coach the Harrison Central Huskies wrestling team - and who first hit the mat at a Cadiz High School wrestling event at age 6.
(This is another piece I wrote for the Harrison News Herald. I also took the photograph. No reproductions without written permission, please.)
No place like home
On Nov. 15, Hendricks will be at center stage at the Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 91 - being billed as the largest pay-per-view in the sport, to date.
Hendricks is one tough guy. He's 6 ft. 2 and weighs in at 246 pounds of solid muscle, and he's gaining a reputation as a strong competitor in a sport that combines boxing, martial arts and wrestling.
In the Nov. 15 fight, he's going up against another tough competitor in Gabriel Gonzaga. Their numbers match up. Gonzaga is 6 ft 1 and weighs 242. He has a record of 9-3, while Hendricks' record is 15-4.
It's a big match - not just for the sizes of the men, but in the importance in the sport - and Hendricks has come a long, long way from the times as a child, when he first wrestled at a Cadiz event.
"My first wrestling match was at Cadiz High School, when I was six years old," Hendricks recalled. "I've wrestled for my whole life."
Until his parents' divorce, Hendricks lived in the Jewett-Scio area, but eventually graduated from Wadworth High School in 1995. Most of his family remains in this area.
He went to Oklahoma State College and then to Ashland College, where he was a championship wrestler whose travels took him to Seoul, South Korea as a member of the University World Team. In college, Hendricks roomed with Olympian Eric Guerrero, a member of the 2004 U.S. Wrestling Team.
Henricks also returned to Cadiz for a period of time, where he helped coach the Harrison Central Huskies wrestling team.
All that changed in 2002, when he "got dared" to do his first fight.
"From there, I've been all over the place," Hendricks said.
One memorable fight took him to Moscow, where he fought to a third-round loss against an extremely tough Russian fighter.
"I thought he broke my jaw," Hendricks said of the Russian challenger.
His career as an ultimate fighter has made leaps and bounds since then.
"The last three years have been good," he said. "Out of 10 wins, 9 were first round and one was unanimous," he said.
Hendricks isn't an athlete who rests on his laurels, and even after the Nov. 15 fight, he'll continue, win or lose.
"Success isn't a goal; it's a journey," he maintains.
Hendricks, at 32, says he's at the point in which most ultimate fighters are in their peak physical condition for the sport, and he's been training hard for the Nov. 15 fight.
"I've spent two weeks out in Vegas with (UFC® Heavyweight Champ) Randy Couture. I'll be flying back out there on Nov. 2, and the fight is on the 15th. I'll take time off after that."
Couture is headlining the Nov. 15 pay-per-view, putting his title on the line against wrestler Brock Lesnar.
That's not all the training Hendricks is doing, however. Every day, for a minimum of five to six hours, he trains at the Medina area gym he calls home. He spars in wrestling, kick boxing, martial arts and does hours of cardiac workouts.
"I do two or three sessions a day," said Hendricks.
Hendricks' life isn't all about his fighting career, however. He has a wife, Allison; an infant son, Caden and two step children, Ryler and Rogan, ages 9 and 6. He clearly dotes.
He also loves to come back to Harrison County to visit his many uncles, aunts and grandparents.
Hendricks gives his wife, Allison, a great deal of credit for keeping him motivated and going.
"She's a fight fan," Hendricks said. "She realizes how important this is to me. She is quick to get me out of bed and out for training. I'm very thankful to her, because she takes care of home and she makes sure my sole responsibility is preparing for this."
Despite his size and his toughness, and the successes he has achieved, Hendricks is a humble man. He knows who his true supporters have been for all of these years.
In addition to his wife and children, Hendricks said his inspiration has always come from the family members he loves to visit back home in Harrison County.
His father, Dale Hendricks and his uncles, Bob and Jim, along with his grandfather, Harry, were strong men who encouraged Hendricks in his physical activities.
"But my grandmother, Nancy, we get our toughness from her," Hendricks said.
While Hendricks is nearing the top of his fighting career, he knows it won't last forever.
"I'm blessed to be in the position I'm in, and I encourage people to take care of themselves for health and physical preparedness. People should take care of their health more seriously," Hendricks maintains.
He said he'll do "anything I can to help give back" and that he wants to stay in the business, even after the fighting ends.
"I want to stay in the business and train people and share my knowledge," Hendricks said.
There may be a great call for the skills Hendricks has learned. In the past five years, since ESPN began covering the sport, Hendricks said ticket sales have continued to climb.
"UFC 91 will be the largest pay-per-view of any sport," he said.
The sport, however, Hendricks said, is already drawing people in who are not its true stars.
"Kimbo Slice became a big star because of YouTube," said Hendricks. "He just would get out a truck and hit some bum. One thing he needed to realize that some people swing back. I never want to be disrespectful, but he lost to a mediocre fighter."
