The heavyweights tapped gloves; and, immediately, the action popped off!  Gonzaga landed a body shot, then a knee.

Hendricks marched forward, seeking to lock “Napao” in a clinch; but, then came the straight right as Gonzaga backpedalled.  Hendricks collapsed to his right side.

After a quick glance at referee Steve Mazzagatti, Gonzaga nailed another right on his downed opponent’s head before Mazzagatti stopped the fight at 1:01 of round one.

Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked heavyweight

Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan told Fighters.com, “[Gonzaga] did not sign any fight yet but we think he will be on the November card.”

Hendricks was a wrestling All-American twice at Ashland University and knocked out James Powell (1-6) in Lafayette, northwest of Indianapolis, in his last fight in November 2007.

The fight versus Gonzaga will be Hendricks’s UFC debut.

Gonzaga tapped Justin McCully (8-4-2) in Las Vegas 5 July, his first win in three after suffering consecutive losses to sixth-ranked “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8) and fifth-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1).

Gonzaga’s recent UFC match-ups may be telling of the opinion the promotion has of their one-time title challenger.

Fighters.com speculated Gonzaga may return to competitive match-ups versus Cheick Kongo (12-4-1) or Brock Lesnar (2-1) after boosting his confidence versus McCully.

Alvan said, “Gabriel would love face the top names, but he agrees what ever the UFC propose to him.”