Johny Hendricks has had a rough couple of years. Ever since his title-winning effort against Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 in 2014, the heavy-handed wrestler has struggled, winning only one of his past five fights while losing the belt in the process.

Now, though, “Bigg Rigg” is back, and bigger than ever at 185 pounds. For his debut at middleweight in the co-main event of Sunday’s UFC Halifax card, Hendricks says he’s looking forward to fight night for the first time in a long time after regularly depleting his body trying to make the 170-pound welterweight limit.

“Right now I’m not thinking about weight cuts”, Hendricks, who said that he weighed 188 pounds on Friday afternoon, said. “I’m thinking about fun fights. And that’s what I get to do right now. Literally. I’m not doing anything, anything hard. Today is the first day that I haven’t got to drink eight pounds of water […]. I feel a lot better. I’m happier, I’ve got energy to do stuff.”

Stuff such as thinking further than fight night, even though Hendricks says he knows he can’t underestimate opponent Hector Lombard, a former Bellator champion with a track record of spectacular knockout victories. Still, in light of recent news, Hendricks wouldn’t mind setting up another, much bigger fight right away.

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“Yeah, if he does (come back)”, Hendricks said when asked by FloCombat via AG. Fight if he would like to rematch Georges St-Pierre. It was recently announced that “GSP” will be heading back to the cage after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus that started with a narrow victory against Hendricks at UFC 167.

“You know, I’ve heard he wants to go (fight at) 185”, Hendricks said, then paused. “I know somebody that he might want to fight. And that’s the thing, really. First and foremost, I’ve got to get past Hector. But the way my energy level and my mind are set right now, I’m feeling really confident. Like I said – two (pounds) over, I really don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so used to, right now, hating you guys. And, instead, it’s actually fun again. It’s fun to be sitting here and talk to you guys and get to hear your questions.”

As Hendricks admitted himself, the fun wasn’t always there during his days as a welterweight. Or, rather, during the days that he tried to become a welterweight for a few hours for the scale before ballooning back up again – a task he failed multiple times over the past few years.

For his past two fights – decision losses to Kelvin Gastelum and Neil Magny – Hendricks missed the weight limit after a fight against Tyron Woodley already had to be cancelled in 2015 when Hendricks had to be taken to the hospital over weight cutting issues.

Fed up by people criticizing him for his weight issues, Hendricks then challenged the media to cut weight themselves during a scrum before UFC 207. Sure enough, FloCombat Senior Editor Duane Finley and Hunter Homistek took the fighter up on the challenge, recently losing 20 pounds respectively over six weeks. So did that impress Hendricks? Not really.

“[Laughing] They did?”, Hendricks chuckled when told about the successfully completed challenge, before backpedaling. “Yeah, no, I told them to drop 35 (pounds)”, Hendricks said. “Not 20. 20 is easy. Yeah, that’s what I’m cutting now […] and that’s why I’m happy. And people don’t really... Whenever you lose almost a fourth of your body weight to compete in front of people, you kill yourself [...]. And fighting just wasn’t fun at that point, it really wasn’t.”

Not surprisingly, it was another popular UFC fighter who enjoyed plenty of success after going up in weight that convinced Hendricks to give middleweight a try despite standing only 5 feet 9 inches tall.

“(Donald) Cerrone is the one who really caught my eye […]”, Hendricks stated. “He went out there and he went on a three-fight winning streak and I’m going ‘Alright, you know what, that’s what I’m going to do […].’ He has more energy. He looks better and faster.”

And Hendricks already knows what advantages he’ll hold against the bigger guys at middleweight:

“Here’s the thing: I’ve been fighting at 170 all my life. I’ve been fighting guys that used to fight at 185. They’re slower. I needed my speed, I’m used to people bouncing in and out, being quick on their feet. I’m not going to see that at 185. So that’s what these guys really need to worry about.”

Confident that with his weight problems, motivational issues will be a thing of the past as well, Hendricks dismissed comments that his life as a family man takes away from his focus on fighting – a profession that requires every ounce of one’s focus on the highest level.

Hendricks, though, insists that his family life provides motivation rather than distraction.

“If somebody ever seriously says that I’m silly for choosing my family over my career, I don’t need them in my life. Right? Because obviously, one, they don’t have a family. And if they do, I feel sorry for those people, for their wife, for their kids. Because there’s nothing greater in a father’s life than when I walk home and… Just take it as this, right here. I’ve been away for a week, right? I’ll be away for six days, I’ll show up on Monday and as soon as I get home, they’re going to meet me with the biggest smile and they’ll say ‘I love you, daddy’ and if that doesn’t melt your heart, then you are a coward and you should not have a family.

“That’s the way I put it because even now, it really gets to me – I miss my family, right? But I also know I have a job to do, and they get that as well. So that’s why whenever I get home, I’m going to cherish that moment, I’m going to enjoy that moment and I just can’t imagine someone that has a family or who one day wants to have a family could ever say that to somebody. That’s crazy.”

Author's Note: The challenge issued by Johny Hendricks was 20 pounds not 35 despite what the former welterweight champion claims.



For FloCombat via AG.Fight