After failing to make weight for his welterweight clash with Tyron Woodley at UFC 192 on Saturday night leading to the fight being cancelled, the UFC are pushing for Johny Hendricks to move up to the middleweight division, but he wants one last chance to prove he can still make weight.
‘Bigg Rigg’ had to be rushed to hospital last Thursday after a botched weight cut led to him suffering from an intestinal blockage in addition to having a kidney stone.
However, according to Ariel Helwani on the UFC Tonight show, Hendricks will now undergo a ‘mini cut’ within the next month to see whether he can still safely get down to 170lbs. If successful he’ll remain in the welterweight division and if not then he’ll have to move up to middleweight.
Hendricks had been considered the No.1 contender at 170lbs and held the title within the past year, so it’s easy to see why he’s still determined to remain in the division despite the fact he’s now slipped to No.3 as a result of his no-show on Saturday night.
It’s always been very difficult for the 32 year-old to make it down to the welterweight limit though and quite frankly he’s looked absolutely dreadful on the scales on several occasions even before last weekend’s incident, looking extremely drawn out and even visibily shaking at times.
That’s lead to concerns about his health as his former dietician Mike Dolce explained in a recent interview with MMAfighting.com.
“This is more important than sport,” Dolce said. “It’s more important than Johny Hendricks’ career. Johny has a much longer life to live after this sport and he needs to do the things that are in his best interest and the best interest of his health.”
Dolce also detailed how Hendricks tends to balloon up in weight in-between fight camps which is compounding his issues and has publicly called on ‘Bigg Rigg’ to take 6 months out to focus on a healthier diet and lifestyle.
It remains to be seen whether Hendricks will heed that advice, though from the looks of things it seems he’s eager to prove himself and return to the Octagon sooner rather than later.
