Johny Hendricks had to pull out of UFC 192 due to “weight cutting issues” according to Dana White on Friday. The loss of Hendricks versus Tyrone Woodley depreciates the entertainment value of the PPV Saturday.
Hendricks appeared at Thursday’s media day per MMA Fighting where he said he weighed 183 pounds – 13 pounds above the 170 pound weight limit (although technically he could have made it at 171 pounds since this was not a title fight). Hendricks said he was happy with the weight which seemed to mean that he expected to cut the rest of the weight prior to Friday’s weigh-ins.
But Hendricks indicated that his body shut down. Notably, Hendricks has had issues with weight in the past but split with nutritionist Mike Dolce.
After the weigh-ins, White indicated that Hendricks was 26 pounds over coming into fight week. This was not the case according to Hendricks’ representation. An MMA Junkie report does state that he may have started the weight cut late per his strength and conditioning coach.
The incident occurs the day after the UFC-USADA ban on IV rehydration took effect. For those wondering, Hendricks was given an IV at the hospital. Under the IV ban, the protocol allows for IV use in exigent circumstances. Still, White was probably correct in taking Hendricks off the card.
Payout Perspective:
The loss of Hendricks-Woodley hurts the appeal of UFC 192. While there is the rumor that Jon Jones may be cageside to “confront” the winner of the Cormier-Gus fight, we’ve all been trained to wait for the highlights and/or find them online. So, a 10 second confrontation won’t do much to get buys. But Hendricks-Woodley would have been an entertaining semi-main event for Cormier-Gus. The loss of that fight may sway some semi-dedicated UFC fans. Moreover, with two boxing events on HBO and Showtime there will be split audiences for combat sports. UFC 192 could be facing stiff competition.
Could have used that fight. Overall, a pretty boring night for MMA. The main event was good, the rest of the card was meh.