In the afermath of the news that Johny Hendricks had been rushed to hospital following an unsuccessful weight cut that’s forced him out of his UFC 192 co-main event fight with Tyron Woodley tonight, Dana White has offered more details on what happened and why it could end ‘Bigg Rigg’s’ run at 170lbs.
“They called me last night and said that he was in a lot of pain and he laid down and he was better when he laid down and felt less pain and I said, ‘take him to the hospital,'” White told FOX Sports 1. “They didn’t want to go to the hospital because they knew they’d say he’s dehydrated and give him an IV but… it’s just not worth it. It’s not worth a dangerous weight cut to come in and fight.
Hendricks was eventually diagnosed with a blockage in his intestine and a kidney stone, while White went on to suggest that now may have to be the time for the former champion to move up to the middleweight division.
“He blows up when he’s not competing and as you continue to get older it makes it harder to make the weight,” White said. “He has to figure out a diet. He just lost a huge opportunity here tonight. So he needs to figure this out. I consider him an ’85 pounder right now. I do not want to see him at 170 again.”
It remains to be seen whether he’ll stick to his guns on that declaration. After all, he said pretty much the same thing about Kelvin Gastelum, yet he’s now allowed the former TUF winner to come back to welterweight after just a a single fight at 185lbs.
With the 32 year-old Hendricks only having lost the welterweight title as recently as December of last year and still remaining ranked as the No.1 contender at this moment in time it may be a step too far to banish him from the division after just a single failed weight cut.
Health scares like this have to be taken seriously though and with Hendricks having been known to suffer through tough cuts in the past perhaps it would be best for his body if he did look to start afresh at 185lbs, though at 5ft 9″ with a 69″ reach his frame wouldn’t be ideally suited to that weight class.
