Johny Hendricks Makes Weight on Final Attempt, Keeps UFC Title Bout Intact

While weigh-ins are generally a formality for most UFC events, they turned out to be anything but that at Friday’s UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler weigh-ins at Gilley’s Dallas.

Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler were supposed to be fighting for the UFC welterweight championship recently vacated by former titleholder Georges St-Pierre.

That was all put into doubt following the initial weigh-in on Friday, although Hendricks went off to cut some extra poundage, returned, and eventually made weight, keeping the championship bout fully intact.

Hendricks first stepped on the scale (watch the video here), weighing in at 171.5 pounds on Friday. Even after dropping his shorts, standing behind a towel stark naked, he was still 1.5 pounds over the 170-pound limit for a welterweight title fight. Non-title bouts have a one-pound allowance, but not championship bouts.

A look of shock crawled across Hendricks’ face as he appeared to battle for a grasp on what had just happened, his title hopes going blurry before his eyes.

As it was, Hendricks, already looking pallid from the weight cut, was given two more hours to try and get down to the 170-pound mark.

If he made it, fine, it’s a title fight. If he didn’t, then the Texas Commission, according to UFC president Dana White, ruled that Hendricks and Lawler would still fight, but that Hendricks would not get the belt should he win, the belt would remain vacant. Lawler, however, would earn the championship should he defeat an overweight Hendricks, since Lawler met the mark.

All of that became moot, however, when Hendricks returned to the scale just before 7 p.m. ET, weighing in at 170 pounds on the nose on his final attempt.

The UFC 171 main event remains a battle between Hendricks and Lawler with the winner walking away with UFC gold around his waist.