UFC Fight Night 105's Johny Hendricks now serious about retirement talk if 185 doesn't work out

Johny Hendricks has talked about the possibility of retirement before. It came recently, in fact.

Before his fight against Neil Magny at UFC 207, the former welterweight champion said if he couldn’t win, it might just be time to hang up the gloves. Hendricks didn’t win, but still decided to give it at least one more go-’round – at middleweight.

Next month, Hendricks (17-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC) will head to 185 pounds to take on Hector Lombard (34-6-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 105, which takes place Feb. 19, a Sunday, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and airs live on FS1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Hendricks has fallen on some rough times after winning the then-vacant welterweight title nearly three years ago with a unanimous decision over Robbie Lawler at UFC 171. The two rematched at UFC 181, but Lawler took the belt with a split decision.

Hendricks rebounded with a decision win over Matt Brown at UFC 185 in March 2015, but a fight against now-champ Tyron Woodley booked for UFC 192 was scrapped when a bad weight-cut led to Hendricks heading to the hospital on weigh-in day. A few months later, he headlined UFC Fight Night 82 against Stephen Thompson, but was stopped with a first-round TKO – the first stoppage loss of his career.

In his follow-up at UFC 200 in July 2016, Hendricks missed weight by a quarter-pound, then lost a decision to Kelvin Gastelum. And at UFC 207 in December, he missed weight by two and a half pounds, then lost a decision to Neil Magny – though it was a decision that was questioned by many thanks to Hendricks’ several takedowns and top control in the fight.

And believing he won that fight, and the fans believing he won that fight, is one of the reasons Hendricks said he couldn’t just walk away like that.

“Realistically, I thought I won that fight,” Hendricks told Australia-based Submission Radio. “And I rewatch it and I rewatch it and I rewatch it. … I pretty much controlled him for 13 minutes, besides a minute of submission and 15 seconds of a submission. But I made a slight adjustment and it went away. And all of a sudden you lose a fight because of that? … So that’s why I’m looking at this going, it’s gotta be the weight. That’s why I want to do my last one at 185. And I tried to move up to 185 before my last fight, but my coaches and everybody said, hey, let’s just try one more at ’70.

“… Yes, I said if I lost I would (retire). … (But) if I fight good at ’85, well then I’m gonna stay there. But if I don’t do good, then guess what? It’s time. I had my fun, I had my time. It’s not worth going out there and training for 12 weeks and then being done, or going out there and just losing. And that’s really what it’s about. Here’s one thing that really leads me to believe that fight was mine – did you hear the boos after that? The whole crowd thought I won that fight. So I don’t want to leave whenever the fans think I’ve won. That’s really where my head’s at: They believe I won that fight, so I’m gonna do one more. I don’t care about retirement.”

Hendricks said his weight cut was on pace for UFC 207, but then just stalled. And that’s when he started to realize the move to 185, which he had thought about before, was something that needed to become a reality.

He said welterweight still remains his ideal weight class – after all, he won a title there. But he also believes his days at 170 pounds are in the rearview mirror.

“There’s a time to listen to your body and there’s a time not to, and I’ve decided not to listen to it for the last year,” Hendricks said. “I’ve wanted to move up to ’85 for over a year now. But I still know that I could compete, I know that welterweight was a great division for me, but now it’s not. If I can’t go out to perform, if I’m performing at my worst, and I keep losing, what does that do for me? That’s just a waste of camp and a waste of time and a waste of money.

“… Now it’s really time for me to listen to my body and say, ‘Hey, something’s got to give.’ I’ve either got to retire or I’ve got to move up. And why not? I’ve got one fight left on my contract, why not see what happens at 185?”

For more on UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.