Johny Hendricks 'officially done' with cutting to welterweight

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Wild

Wild

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Dec 31, 2014
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Johny Hendricks had a rough 2016 but the 33-year-old has found a new lease of life since moving from 170-pounds to 185-pounds earlier this year.

Hendricks, the former UFC welterweight champion, found it increasingly hard to make weight and actually missed weight on two separate occasions against Neil Magny and Kelvin Gastelum. 'Bigg Rigg' lost both bouts and also suffered the first TKO loss of his career when he was stopped by breakthrough contender Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 82.

After losing his third straight fight in December of last year, Hendricks decided that enough was enough and made the move to middleweight.

The Texan had no problem making weight and comfortably…


Hendricks 'officially done' with cutting to welterweight
 
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Is Hendricks really cut out for middle-weight (pun intended)? Thompson made him look short and lacking the foot speed needed to close the distance.....f'n Hendricks, just walk around at under 190 lbs and you'll be fine.

Why has no one pointed out to him or a large number of the "mma fighters" that it's not how much weight you cut but what percentage of your weight you cut and in what time frame that will make or break you?

If he walks around all the time at over 2 bills then yeah, that cut is going to be so rough that it diverts time and energy from other aspects of fighting.
 
maurice

maurice

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Hendricks doesn't have a "weight cutting" issue. He has a "being fat" issue. Dude wrestled mostly at 165, and he obviously wasn't cutting from 205+ lbs then. He competed against guys like Tyron Woodley, while Ben Askren wrestled a class higher at 174, yet they have no problem making 170...because they didn't get fat.

Remember when DC missed weight in the Olympics and swore that he couldn't make LHW? Turns out that he could make weight fine. He just needed to put down the fork.
 
Nemo?

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maurice said:
Hendricks doesn't have a "weight cutting" issue. He has a "being fat" issue. Dude wrestled mostly at 165, and he obviously wasn't cutting from 205+ lbs then. He competed against guys like Tyron Woodley, while Ben Askren wrestled a class higher at 174, yet they have no problem making 170...because they didn't get fat.

Remember when DC missed weight in the Olympics and swore that he couldn't make LHW? Turns out that he could make weight fine. He just needed to put down the fork.
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To be fair DC's kidney's failed or some shit during is Olympic cut.
 
maurice

maurice

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...because he overdehydrated himself trying to compensate for his too high BF%.

Same as Hendricks complaining about the weight cut, when that isn't the real problem.

Joemacka said:
Hendricks looked good at MW picked apart Lombard with ease.
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Lombard is 1-4 at MW in the UFC. His only win is over one of the few guys shorter than he is.

The top of the division is a bunch of guys 6' and taller.
 
BeardOfKnowledge

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maurice said:
Hendricks doesn't have a "weight cutting" issue. He has a "being fat" issue. Dude wrestled mostly at 165, and he obviously wasn't cutting from 205+ lbs then. He competed against guys like Tyron Woodley, while Ben Askren wrestled a class higher at 174, yet they have no problem making 170...because they didn't get fat.
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Build is relevant to weight retention, age slows your metabolism speed and they've also changed what he can and can't use in his weight cutting procedure.
 
maurice

maurice

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Citing Woodley again, he's the same height as Hendricks, slightly older, and certainly doesn't have a smaller "build." Yet he still makes weight without complaint after the IV ban.

GSP is 1 inch taller than Hendricks. Romero is 3 inches taller and has a much larger build.
 
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JohnyHendricksBeard said:
Yup.

For perspective Yoel Romero is about the same size as GSP. How badly did the reach hurt him against GSP?
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GSP, even if he beats Bisping, won't be champion for long.

So let's look at some of the top middleweights and how much reach Hendricks gives up:

Bisping - 6.5"

Mousasi - 7"

Rockhold - 8"

Weidman - 9"

Hendricks simply cannot survive in a division where the reach discrepancy is so great. His frame puts him at 170, he just needs to stop being lazy with his dieting.
 
benjo0101

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conor mcgregor nut hugger said:
GSP, even if he beats Bisping, won't be champion for long.

So let's look at some of the top middleweights and how much reach Hendricks gives up:

Bisping - 6.5"

Mousasi - 7"

Rockhold - 8"

Weidman - 9"

Hendricks simply cannot survive in a division where the reach discrepancy is so great. His frame puts him at 170, he just needs to stop being lazy with his dieting.
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Because reach is everything right?
 
Zeph

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Well, he was unofficially done a long time ago. It's what precipitated the move to 185.
 
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benjo0101 said:
Because reach is everything right?
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It's not everything, but it's not a good idea to be that undersized against so many of the top fighters in your division.

He's also a few inches shorter than all the guys I mentioned.
 
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benjo0101 said:
Because reach is everything right?
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Unless there's some drastic discrepancy in their footwork that favours the man with shorter reach then yeah, it is rather important...hence fighting experts paying attention to it and all.
 
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blank said:
Unless there's some drastic discrepancy in their footwork that favours the man with shorter reach then yeah, it is rather important...hence fighting experts paying attention to it and all.
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Exactly. Hendricks has power, but he doesn't have crazy quick footwork or speed to get inside and make up for his T-Rex arms.
 
benjo0101

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conor mcgregor nut hugger said:
No, but don't you think Big Rigg's frame more naturally fits a 170-lb fighter in this day and age of dieting and weight cutting?
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Yes I really do. I totally agree and think that it's his own management issues.

I do also think that it would be good to see a change in weight classes to allow a bit more flexibility for these in between fighters. 155, 165, 175, 185, 205, 225, 265. Maybe.

Dont get me wrong reach helps, but it isnt everything. That is only my point
 
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distant1

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hendricks quickness and speed will be an advantage versus the majority of mw's as hendrick was one of the more athletic welters...his issue is gonna be the size durability and strength of the guys he is facing.

he is gonna have to emphasize his footwork, defense, counterpunching, and volume on the feet to make up for the physical disadvantages; he will have to use the full skillset to compete and win..

tim boetsch a tough matchup for him
 
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