The complicated legacy of Johnny Hendricks

[JohnMandick]

He never really got the respect or the money or the women....

 

[CroCopsLHK]

Dude was just an asshole. I know it's important to seperate the fighter from the person, but that's just hard for me. Wouldn't let fans touch his belt, always full of excuses, asked reporters to cut weight, and his restaurant sucked. Generally I don't wish failure upon anyone, but if you can't represent your attitude well it's fair game.

 

[CroCopsLHK]

 

[blaseblah]

Side note, most of the champions during 2013 had an almost meteoric fall once USADA came in.

Johny
Aldo
Barao
Jones
Pettis
Weidman

6 of 8 male divisions. Mighty Mouse and Cain are the only two.

Cain has won a single fight since 2013

 

[Daniel4802]

When you yo-yo diet like he did, consecutive times, your body composition will go to shit. His performance went down the toilet with it.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

What legacy?

He accomplished some things but he will be remembered as a lazy, undisciplined bag of excuses.

 

[Adjutant]

I never really liked him. He was waay too impressed with himself. His shitty attitude towards reporters. Either snubbing them, or lecturing them like he was enlightening the masses. He was an overall poor sport.

However, it makes me kind of sad to see a person go from the pinnacle of the sport, and in 4 short years, be absolutely inconsequential. 4 years! I think Im doing pretty damn well professionally, and it scares me to think my life could completely turn around that quickly. He has no prospects really. Maybe make shit money as a wrestling coach for an MMA camp, or college. Hes also persona non grata with his old agency who dumped alot of money into him, just to have him pull out of his financial obligations.

 

[Unsurprised Diaz]

He saw the writing on the wall, and it seems like USADA writing on the wall too

 

[gono btw]

Dude was just an asshole. I know it's important to seperate the fighter from the person, but that's just hard for me. Wouldn't let fans touch his belt, always full of excuses, asked reporters to cut weight, and his restaurant sucked. Generally I don't wish failure upon anyone, but if you can't represent your attitude well it's fair game.

legit loled on this one: "and his restaurant sucked."

 

[Dogo1]

Curious what people think of Johnny Hendricks and what y'all think of his recent retirement announcement.

On one hand you have the unstoppable version of Hendricks....the dude that trounced Kampmann and Fitch with stunning power, during an absolute tear of a win streak. A guy who arguably won the GSP fight (even though he "technically" didn't), and the guy who finally won Gold against Lawler AT LEAST once (I had him winning the second one too, even though I was rooting for Lawler).

On the other hand, it's impossible to ignore the inconsistencies and arguments against the dude. The testimonies of former fighters that were confused by his power, implying he was juicing. The fact that, post USADA, he went on one of the worst declines, we've seen from a former champ. The bad weight cuts.

My personal opinion regarding his legacy. In 20 years, he will be forgotten. He did very little to endure himself in this sport. He was a great fighter at one time and showed true grit, but his biggest wins (and losses) were often controversial, and let's be honest; He wasn't the most popular fighter. He seemed to want Gold very badly, but wanted to live his Steak-chompin, let's go fishing life, just as much. I think this made him relatable to some, but lazy to many others.

What do you think?

A well thought out point of view and also clearly stated. We need more of your kind around here.

 

[TITS]

I like Hendricks, he gets undeservedly shit on by forum members here. I was really starting to enjoy his recent batshit crazy Jewish deli manager persona, and hoped he would have an awesome comeback fight against another veteran before packing it in.

 

[Thesnake101]

Side note, most of the champions during 2013 had an almost meteoric fall once USADA came in.

Johny
Aldo
Barao
Jones
Pettis
Weidman

6 of 8 male divisions. Mighty Mouse and Cain are the only two.

Aldo is still fighting at a pretty high level, not to mention that he dominated Frankie prior to the Holloway beatings.

Yeah, he's not unbeatable anymore, but he's also not been relegated to gatekeeper status.

 

[WinZip]

He's a guy that was on top of the world until he lost the GSP fight. He was never the same after that, even after winning the belt...he was never the same fighter as before the GSP fight. He showed a lack of heart when he was literally running from Lawler at the end of the second fight and lost his title in his first defense. Then he couldn't make weight at 170. Then he ranted and challenged fans and media to a weight cutting challenge. And then he went to 185, and eventually missed weight there too.

It's a shame he couldn't get it together better than he did. Hopefully he's smart with his money and can enjoy his health and wealth. He was one of the best fighters in the world for a while.

 

[Kekonaut]

If the test for legacy is what people think of him in 20 years then he won't have a legacy.

That is true of 95%+ of the roster (how many fighters from 1998 have any real legacies now? & they are at somewhat of an advantage in that that they were "pioneers")

Hendricks will just be a footnote as a guy who won the belt briefly. It might even turn out that he is more remembered for almost beating GSP vs anything else that he did.

I never cared for Hendricks but I only really turned on him when he flat out refused to do proper PED testing before the GSP fight. Before that incident it was difficult to know his real attitude towards PEDs. After that it was clear that he was using and wanted to avoid real testing at all costs. Of course, when he could no longer avoid real testing we all saw what happened.

Leaving that stuff aside, I always thought that his KO power was exaggerated. His inability to make weight is legendary. His three straight fights against GSP and Lawler (2) were pretty incredible. All of them had drama and showed Hendricks at the very peak of the sport. Then he was done and the end was sad (like it is for most fighters)

Well said.

 

[Medical Marijuana Man]

Ducked strict drug testing against GSP
Became a top 20 WW after drug testing when he was top 3.
Fat unprofessional excuse maker that wouldn't let anyone touch his belt.

Epic fight with Condit and Lawler but I'm glad he's retired. I expect him to weigh as much as 2 Matt Serras now.

 

[Jon Stark]

I THINK most fans think he was a great WW until he started USING PEDs and became one of the best! However his legacy is tainted by alleged cheating, not making weight, gassing and coasting in round 5 vs GSP. He is DQ'ed from all time WW great chat. Glad he's gone.

 

[Geo_Mac]

He came in on fire when drug testing wasn't a priority and ended up on one of the worst career ending skids in recent memory.
He says his heart wasn't in it anymore and I truly believe him after seeing the obvious effects of PED withdrawal on someone like Vitor, it was obvious that he was a casualty of the same circumstances.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Exciting fighter to watch early in his UFC career... gave St Pierre a heck of a fight. Had two amazing wars with Robbie. But then the fast fall from champion to gatekeeper in UFC history...

 

[Echo_Bliss]

Curious what people think of Johnny Hendricks and what y'all think of his recent retirement announcement.

-TEXT BLOB-

What do you think?

Well, as soon as USADA became a thing, Hendricks is one of those fighters who's body and lethality suddenly changed. He lost rounds 1, 3, and 5 against GSP. He didn't arguably win anything but a participation trophy. "I lasted five rounds with GSP and all I got is this lousy T-Shirt!" type of thing. The sudden changes in his body and fighting calls into question is performances against Robbie x2, GSP, Kampmann, and Fitch. He also refused to test with GSP, if you remember that debacle, but his white knight fans will spend all day Hendricksplaining how GSP is actually the cheat who's suspicious. Riiiiight. I believe Hendricks already is forgotten by the fans and will be viewed in the future the way Mark Kerr is viewed now - "who dat?". He gave us several good performances but he dropped the ball when it mattered most both times (against GSP and Lawler 2), followed by "hitting the wall" hard. It's too bad it ended like this. He did have a good run though.

 

[ANIM4L]

He probably lost the fire to compete after grinding his way to the top of the toughest division (at the time).