Hendricks: I should have moved up in weight years ago

The culture of extreme weight-cutting in mixed martial arts will in time be looked back upon as insanity. One day before the most intense physical exertion imaginable, both fighters dehydrate themselves, sometimes to the point of hospitalization, in order to make weight. Then both of them rehydrate and fight at about the same weight.

For years former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks struggled mightily at 170, losing his final three fights at welter, and missing weight for two of them. Worse, at UFC 192 Hendricks was hospitalized trying to make weight, and never even fought. He has now moved up to middleweight and looked excellent defeating in his division debut vs. Hector Lombard UFC at Fight Night 105, winning a unanimous decision. He even weighed in half a pound light. And seven days later was back in training, rather than letting his weight balloon up.

On Sunday Hendricks fights Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 112; he has some regrets.

I wish I’d have listened to myself a long time ago because I would have been at ’85 two years ago, said Hendricks to E. Spencer Kyte for UFC.com. As soon as I missed weight with Tyron, I wanted to go to ’85.

You lose three in a row, you miss weight twice, what do you do? You sit there and say, ‘You know what? I’m done.’ After this last fight at ’70, as soon as I stepped off the scale, I looked at Joe Silva and said, ‘I’m an ‘85er.’ I’ll never see welterweight again. I refuse to go back there.

Now that I don’t have to cut weight, I’m training almost all the time because I’m not dreading training; I’m not dreading going to the gym. I’m not looking at this going, ‘Man, if I get back in there, I’m going to have to kill myself to try to make weight.’ Now it’s really been fun.

After this last fight, I think I took a week off and I started seeing my coaches three times a week just because it’s no longer a job; it’s actually enjoyment again.

I have freedom. I don’t have to miss the girls’ birthday parties. I get to eat cake. I get to drink a Coke with them. In the ’70 days, forget that; I would go work out during their birthday parties. I have a life again; that’s the best way to explain it.

This fight with Tim Boetsch – he’s a true ‘85er and how will I handle against a true 85-pounder; that’s what I’m excited about. I think the ’85 division is not ready for a guy that not only can hit hard, but has the hand speed that I can bring to the table.

The only regret I have is not doing it two years ago.

Johny Hendricks was once the poster child for everything that is wrong with weight cutting. Now he is becoming the poster child for cutting lightly and right.