American light-heavyweight talent, Corey Hendricks, made his ACB debut in the best way possible back at ACB 69 in Kazakstan with a first round head-kick KO over their highly touted Evgeniy Egemberdiev. That performance and finish sent ripples through the division and announced a new star in the ACB light-heavyweight ranks!
Next up for the young American is another tough challenge as he will be the one welcoming a new fighter to the ACB roster when he takes on the highly experienced and hard hitting Konstantine Erokhin at ACB 77 on December 23rd in Moscow.
Cory Hendricks spoke to ACB's Bryan Lacey about his last fight and his thoughts on his next:
Bryan: Your ACB debut saw you returning to the cage after over a year away. How frustrating was it to have that much time away from competing?
Cory: It was very frustrating. I believe it is better to stay fairly active if possible so sitting out for so long was difficult. I made the best of it though by improving myself and coming back a better fighter than I was before.
Bryan: Describe what it was like to get back in there and also what it felt like to get that finish in such an impressive and devastating fashion?
Cory: It was a relief to finally fight again. It had been so long that it felt like it was never going to happen. Getting the win how I did felt great. I'm looking to finish every fight. I consider decisions to be lesser wins so I was very happy to get a first round finish against a tough opponent.
Bryan: Your next fight is against Erokhin. What did you know about him before you signed to fight him and what weaknesses do you see in his game you think you can exploit?
Cory: I wasn't familiar with him so I had to look him up. He is a tough guy with some heavy hands and high level experience. He is coming off a steroid suspension and hasn't fought in two years. He is also dropping to light heavyweight for the first time. It will be interesting to see how the layoff and weight drop affect him.
Bryan: What are your predictions for how this fight will finish?
Cory: I don't know what is going to happen but I'm going in there with the intentions of finishing the fight. I'm looking to get a stoppage as soon as possible and I'm not too picky with how I get it.
Bryan: Your first fight and finish was a statement to the division on how dangerous you are. How do you see yourself matching up against the rest of ACB's light-heavyweights?
Cory: I think I match up well. I do my best to be well rounded so that I'm a tough matchup for anyone. I believe this mentality has given me a solid to path to victory over every fighter in the division.
Bryan: Is the ACB belt a goal of yours? What would it mean to get a shot at our title?
Cory: I have many goals and the ACB belt is one of them. ACB is full of many talented and tough fighters so winning the belt would be a great accomplishment.
