Johny Hendricks: It's partly the fans' fault I didn't get title rematch

Johny Hendricks

Ex-welterweight champion Johny Hendricks said he’s over trying to figure out the UFC’s title plans after getting snubbed for another shot at champ Robbie Lawler’s belt.

“It is what it is,” he told MMAjunkie. “As long as my body’s healthy, I’m going to fight.

“It’s not even so much the UFC’s fault. It’s also the fans; whenever they do a polling of the fans, they might want something different.”

But, the No. 2 ranked fighter in the NOS Energy Drink MMA welterweight rankings added, it might also be the fault of Lawler that he isn’t getting a rubber match with the champ, with whom he’s split a pair of bouts.

“It just sucks, because I get injured (after winning the title at UFC 171), I come back, (Lawler) fights (Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown), and you’re the No. 1 guy – c’mon,” Hendricks said. “I fight, I think I win. I lose, for some crazy reason, right?

“Then all of a sudden I fight somebody, he goes and fights somebody, and instead of him sitting there and saying, ‘You’re the No. 1 contender,’ the fear of losing the belt is what’s keeping him from fighting me.”

Whether it was the promotion, Lawler, or the fans, Hendricks (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) ultimately has a fight at UFC 192 with former wrestling rival and No. 4 ranked Tyron Woodley (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), while Lawler is booked for UFC 195 opposite onetime interim title champ Carlos Condit. A unanimous decision over Matt Brown in March did not open the door to a third fight as expected.

After a close decision over Hendricks this past December and a “Fight of the Year” rematch in July against Rory MacDonald, Lawler is moving on to a new opponent.

Hendricks must live with that fact and fight Woodley as though he were as important as any other opponent. Their bout serves on the pay-per-view main card of the Oct. 3 event at Toyota Center in Houston.

Hendricks shrugged at the idea of getting title shots in writing, as women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate said after getting passed over for a third fight with champ Ronda Rousey.

Instead, his plan is to force the UFC to give him another shot at the belt.

“I don’t care that I fight (Lawler) again, because realistically, how do you outstrike somebody 2-1 after the fourth round and lose the fight? It’s the same scenario as (Georges St-Pierre).

Hendricks was denied the title against now-former champ St-Pierre at UFC 167 despite widespread opinion that he’d been shortchanged on scorecards. But he got another shot at the title when St-Pierre vacated his title, setting up a fight with Lawler. He won and celebrated the biggest win of his career.

After returning from a long injury layoff, that triumph turned to more disbelief with a decision loss to Lawler.

Now, after two tussles with the current champ, Hendricks is only aiming at the title. To get invested in any particular path is to court disappointment.

For more on UFC 192, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.