Johny Hendricks was once one of the most feared welterweights on the UFC roster. The 33-year-old developed a reputation as one of the heaviest hitting fighters in the sport and went on to capture the 170-pound title at UFC 171.
Since then, however, Hendricks has somewhat lost his way and lost the belt in his first title defense against Robbie Lawler in 2014. The 33-year-old has also dropped losses to Stephen Thompson -- who handed Hendricks his first TKO loss -- and Kelvin Gastelum, who beat Big Rig via unanimous decision at UFC 200.
Hendricks will have a chance to reignite his championship spark against Neil Magny at UFC 207 but admits that his career could be coming to an end.
In fact, when speaking to MMA Junkie Radio in a recent interview, Hendricks hinted that he could retire even if he beats Magny on Dec. 30.
“As soon as my wife says, ‘Honey, I want you home more,’ that’s when I’m done,” Hendricks said. “Even if I win this fight, (I could retire). We have four kids now, and she needs help, and I get that and I want to be a father in my kids’ life.”
Although Hendricks wants to look after his family, the former champion still has the desire to compete at the highest level.
“I know for my career this isn’t my last fight – unless my wife says so. I have a feeling I’m going to go out there and show I am going back to the old me. I want to show I do still want to compete in this sport and that I can.”
Despite his recent rough patch, Hendricks is still ranked as the No. 7 welterweight in the world but doesn’t want to be considered a gatekeeper.
“If I don’t win this fight, then obviously it’s not my fighting skills, it’s my willingness to train,” Hendricks said. “That’s sort of where my mindset is. I’m back to training hard and working out hard. But let’s say something does happen and I lose – for one I would be a gate keeper. For two, I don’t want to just fight the fights. It’s a waste to beat yourself up for 12 weeks and go from there. Then I can also put more time into my kids and all that stuff, and that’s really where my head’s been.”
The Texas-based fighter plans to go back to his wrestling roots against Magny and grind out the win if needs be.
“I’m going back and wrestling and wrestling and really focusing on that,” he continued. “Whenever I got to the belt, it wasn’t who I worked out with or how many great partners I had. There was one common denominator: It was wrestling. Those kids (I work with) at Oklahoma State, all they remember you as is a two-time national champion, and they want to beat you up. That pride, I already feel it coming back. Work hard, grind it out, do whatever it takes to win. That’s where my head’s at right now: Do whatever it takes to win. … That’s all I can think about right now. Neil Magny, I have 10 weeks, and in 10 weeks it’s hopefully everyone is going to say, ‘What did Johny do different?'”
Hendricks vs. Magny will take place at UFC 207, the pay-per-view set to host Ronda Rousey’s return to the Octagon against Amanda Nunes. The event takes place on Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.