Many in the MMA world were shocked and appalled at the IOC’s decision to eliminate amateur wrestling from the Olympic Games. Among them was UFC welterweight Johny Hendricks, a two-time NCAA Division 1 champion at Oklahoma State. Hendricks joined MMASucka Radio this week to express his dismay at the IOC’s decision.
“[I’m] disappointed. You put your life into that and you sit there and look at it and what it’s doing is robbing people of success. There are so many people out there that are in high school, junior high or just starting to wrestle that are having the dream of being an Olympian. Now all of their dreams are getting crushed because of some higher ups that already have money. There is not a lot of money in wrestling, but the Olympics is more for just gratification. You go there and you wrestle and everybody will tell you that wrestling is not a money sport. You do it for pride and you do it for the love of what you want to do. There is no better character building sport than wrestling. If they take that away from Olympics, it’s just going to hurt wrestling in college, in high school and everywhere else that much more.”
It’s not just the current crop of wrestlers that Hendricks feels for. Just as important and perhaps more-so are the next generation of wrestlers. Kids who take up wrestling in school and are determined to follow it through to the highest level. Without the possibility of Olympic competition at the end of the journey, there’s a genuine concern that youth participation in the sport will decline. A worst-case scenario is that budget-conscious schools see a declining enrollment and decide to cut the sport at the high school level. What starts as a politically motivated move by the IOC winds up having far-reaching consequences.
“My dream whenever I was growing up was to be in the Olympics, that was my dream, to win the Olympics. But, whenever I got there, I had a choice to make; do I want that dream or do I not. At least I had that dream, or that choice. Nowadays, if that really does get passed, you are going to see a lot of people say if my dream of being an Olympic champion is never there, then why should I put that up there.”
MMA and wrestling are heavily intertwined. Indeed it is exceedingly difficult to become a top-level mixed martial artist without solid wrestling skills. Mixed martial artists who have made it to the Olympic level as wrestlers include silver medalist Matt Lindland, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren. Each one credits the discipline wrestling instilled in them with furthering their MMA career. Hendricks believes that no matter how far the game of MMA evolves, wrestling and the college wrestling experience will continue to provide an integral part.
“Not every wrestler is going to be great at fighting, but these kids growing up that have done jiu-jitsu, striking and wrestling if they do go to college and want to further their career in MMA, then I do believe college wrestling is the way to go. It is so hard, the grind is hard, but not just that, the education you get. If fighting doesn’t happen and I could never fight again today, I still have a college education and I can still go get paid.”
The old joke is that wrestling comes with a vow of poverty. Until recently, financial opportunities in the field have been few and far between. Hendricks chose MMA ultimately as a better way to support his family but it wasn’t without pangs of guilt. Now, he is watching as the rug is being pulled out from the sport just as things were getting better financially for its participants.
“Do I think that I could have went to the Olympics and done good? Yeah, I’d like to think so. It’s hard to explain because I had that dream for so long, to be an Olympic champion that whenever I decided to go into MMA, it felt like I was cheating on wrestling. At that point I had to choose what was better for my family. Now they are getting to a point where they are starting to pay the wrestlers.
I’ve been around the world a little bit, through wrestling and in some of those countries wrestling is held up higher than almost anything else. Our football players are like what wrestling is to them. They make good money and their nation; their country in the Olympics is the highest honor that they could ever receive. That right there should show how important wrestling is, not only to America, but also to the world.”
Hendricks’ passion on the issue is palpable. His accomplishments in wrestling have guided him towards MMA and helped mold him into the man he is today. Without the chase of an Olympic dream, it’s impossible to say where life may have taken him. All he wants is for the IOC to continue to give that opportunity for that same dream to others around the world.
Listen to the entire interview with Hendricks on this weeks episode of MMASucka Radio HERE.
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