Johny Hendricks, a former MMA welterweight champ, admitted that he’s done trying to understand what the UFC is planning because he was, once again, denied for another chance to fight Robbie Lawler for the belt.
“It is what it is. As long as my body’s healthy, I’m going to fight. It’s not even so much the UFC’s fault. It’s also the fans; whenever they do a polling of the fans, they might want something different,” Hendricks said during a recent interview with MMA junkie.
Hendricks further said that the reason that he’s not getting another chance is because of Lawler himself.
“It just sucks, because I get injured (after winning the title at UFC 171), I come back, (Lawler) fights (Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown), and you’re the No. 1 guy – c’mon. I fight, I think I win. I lose, for some crazy reason, right? Then all of a sudden I fight somebody, he goes and fights somebody, and instead of him sitting there and saying, ‘You’re the No. 1 contender,’ the fear of losing the belt is what’s keeping him from fighting me,” he said.
Whether the reason was because of the fans, the promotion, or even Lawler, Hendricks, who is ranked 2 and has a record of 17-3 MMA and 12-3 UFC, has a scheduled fight this coming UFC 192 with Tyron Woodley. Woodley, who is ranked 4 and has a record of 15-3 MMA and 5-2 UFC, was Hendricks’ former wrestling rival. Lawler, on the other hand, is scheduled to go inside the octagon this coming UFC 195 event. He will be going up against interim title champ Carlos Condit. The decision was unanimous over Matt Brown last March that’s why the chance for a third fight did not materialize as expected.
Lawler is now moving on to the next opponent after a close decision over Hendricks was made last December and a “Fight of the Year” rematch last July. For this rematch, he went up against Rory MacDonald.
Hendricks, on the other hand, has to keep up and beat Woodley as though this contender was as valuable as any other opponent. Their fight will be shown as a main card event on the pay-per-view this coming October 3rd. The event will be held in Houston at Toyota Center.
The former mixed martial arts welterweight champ also admitted that he brushed off the idea of getting a chance on the titles and have it on paper. This happened to former bantamweight champ Miesha Tate as well. She, on the other hand, was passed over for a third chance to go against champ Ronda Rousey.
This didn’t waver Hendricks’ desire to have another shot at the belt though.
“I don’t care that I fight (Lawler) again, because realistically, how do you outstrike somebody 2-1 after the fourth round and lose the fight? It’s the same scenario as (Georges St-Pierre),” he said.
Hendricks wasn’t given the title when he went against now-former champ St-Pierre during the UFC 167 event even though the majority said that he has been shortchanged on scorecards. However, he got that chance for the title when St-Pierre vacated his title, which in turn, had set up a bout with Lawler. Hendricks won the fight, which is by far the highest point in his entire career.