What happen to Johny Hendricks punching power ?

[JollyRants]

Before Johny fought GSP he was essentially knocking people out cold. GSP was suspicious of this and recommended Johny be tested. Ever since than Johny's punching power has magically gone out the window and he cant knock out a fly. His performances have been getting worse and worse. What happened to Johny's punching power and why is he sucking so bad ?

 

[Mixed]

Bicep surgery. Hasn't been the same since.

 

[CountOfSoCal]

His body is giving up on him after 20+ years of cutting weight consistently. The guy's body is slowly breaking down from the repeated harsh weight cuts, and it shows. Johny probably has caused himself permanent damage because of it as well.

 

[DLX]

He stopped eating venison.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

I think the way he got most of his knockouts was his deceptive speed. Despite his build Hendricks covers distance really quickly, and often hits people before they can even react. That is what happened to Kampmann and Fitch, and when he hurt GSP in the 2nd round (but GSP showed good defensive footwork, posture, secured position with his low stance, both feet planted with the knees bent, to absorb the punch). You have to stay closer than you think against Hendricks. If you give a guy who explodes forward like that space to build up the momentum, he will run most guys over. He doesn't hit as hard when he can't step as much into his strikes, but then of course you have to deal with the wrestling and clinch game. The fighters Hendricks struggles to put away are either solid defensively (GSP), nigh-impossible to knock out (Condit, Brown), or both(Lawler)

I think the Lawler fights with how much damage he took, weight cut history, and recent changes to his training camp have contributed to his decline physically and technically.

 

[ReasonableMMAFan]

Wonderboy happened.

 

[Renzo Machida]

Between the third and fourth decade of life, the production of testosterone, insulin and GH falls and destruction of muscle tissue exceeds the body's ability to regenerate them. This process - called sarcopenia - is the main factor for the loss of muscle explosion. This process is much more evident in high-performance athletes, whose destruction of muscle mass is much higher and the decline in performance is better noticeable.

 

[Vil7]

He used to be really explosive, and was in my opinion the best at covering distance very quickly. He used to catch people by quickly lunging in with basic combinations. Since the stricter drug testing it seems like he doesn't have that quick movement & has been hurting from the lack of it.

 

[BeerAndKush]

What a fresh and new thread!

 

[marvelcomic]

70% USADA, 30% thin hand wraps.

 

[mjmj]

His opponents aren’t letting him hit them on the chin.





I’m not Hendricks fan, far from it actually. But I don’t think his power has really changed. He just happened to land several perfectly placed shots, in a relatively short period of time. Add to that, his last several opponents aren’t exactly easy to knock out.

His weight issues on the other hand, raise questions.

 

[WinZip]

USADA happened

You saved me from making this dubs-bait post.

Thank you.

 

[neXt leVel]

Dude ...Robbie happened to him........ask Rory.

 

[DS7]

Condit never got knocked out, Lawler got knocked out like once in 40 fights, Matt Brown never got knocked out, St Pierre only Serra put him down...He stills has KO power but he is fighting elite world class fighters and bad mofos.

 

[Haj01]

HE was like Sampson the power was in his hair, or in this case the beard. He got rid of that, and so he was rid of his awesome power too.

 

[tbulls123]

Everyone discovered to use movement against his power and it utilized it pretty good. Plus, his poor weight cutting is catching up to him. lol.

 

[OldBoy91]

70% bruh.

 

[Ruhler]

Well, to be fair to Hendricks, he has fought some insane competition since the Kampmann fight. It's not really reasonable to expect him to be starching guys like GSP, Lawler, and Condit.

 

[KantoTerror]

Lawler Wonderboy happened. Lawler Took 70% Wonderboy fought the shell of Hendricks...

 

[The Bard]

Let's just put the OP In a slightly different order to show that you've tried to answer your own question. Point is: Next time, if you want to say something, just come out and say it.

What happened to Johny's punching power and why is he sucking so bad? GSP was suspicious of this and recommended Johny be tested. Ever since than Johny's punching power has magically gone out the window and he cant knock out a fly.