The UFC allowing Johny Hendricks’ move to the middleweight division just may have saved his career, according to the former welterweight champion.
Hendricks’ troubles with cutting down to 170 almost threatened an end to the career of the popular former champion. The lowest point of his weight-cutting struggles was perhaps the fighter’s hospitalization one day prior to his title-eliminator bout with future champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 192. Furthermore, failing to make weight prior to his losses against Kelvin Gastelum and Neil Magny left the fighter considering a departure from the sport he loves:
“The reason why I thought about retirement was because I didn’t know if the UFC would accept me moving to 185,” Hendricks said. “You put such a legacy at 170 that not just the UFC but the fans, are they going to accept that? Are they going to open their arms and all this kind of stuff. That’s why I wanted to retire, because fighting was not fun. It was 12 weeks of hell and you’re like ‘why am I doing this?’”
Thankfully, Hendricks was granted his move to 185 pounds, and in his first bout at middleweight, beat former Bellator middleweight champion, Hector Lombard:
“That was probably the easiest weight cut I’ve ever done,” Hendricks said. “I ate all the way up until Friday, I drank all the way up until Friday, and the only reason I didn’t drink Friday is I didn’t want to work it off. … I was sitting there and I was looking at my coach and I was like “man I gotta be doing something.” Usually I’m having to run, I’m having a lot of work to try to touch down. I’m so used to my body not wanting to give it up where, we’d do the bare minimum and get what we want, so that way I could do more and capitalize on it throughout the week.”
Hendricks, who will square off against Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 112 on June 25, is clearly feeling the benefits of stepping up in weight:
“As long as my body is healed, I can go out there and fight every two months if I want to,” said Hendricks, who would like to compete next at UFC 211 in Dallas in May. “Cutting weight, right now I’m at 205, a little bit lighter than that, now that I don’t have to slam my body, I’m actually not eating as much, I’m eating better, I’m not super clean but I’m not going off the deep end like I used to for the ’70 class.”
