Johny Hendricks “will retire” if he loses to Neil Magny

Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks (17-5) has stated that he will quit the sport of MMA if he loses his next fight to Neil Magny at UFC 207. “Bigg Rigg” is looking to bounce back from a two fight losing streak when he takes on Magny at the end of year event having suffered consecutive defeats to Stephen Thompson and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ 17 winner, Kevin Gastelum in 2016 alone, taking him to 1-3 in his last four UFC bouts since defeating Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 to win the title. On top of his poor run of form, Hendricks has encountered some issues making weight in the past year. He was hospitalised during his weight cut for his cancelled bout against Tyron Woodley at UFC 192 in October 2015 and missed weight for his UFC 200 match up against Gastelum, weighing in at slightly over the 171lb limit, adding to concerns facing the American mixed martial artist. In an interview with ESPN’s ‘Five Rounds podcast’ Hendricks stated, “Realistically, if I go out there – and hey, crazier things have happened – and lose, that’s when it’s time to say ‘I’m done’. I’m not gonna keep fighting to hopefully find a person I can beat”. This is not the first time that Hendricks has considered retirement. Due to issues in making weight for his title defence against Robbie Lawler at UFC 181 in December 2014 in which he lost by split decision, Hendricks told ‘The MMA Hour’ shortly after that he was pondering retirement rather than going through it all again. For Johny Hendricks then, a defeat to Neil Magny, could result in this becoming a reality, with the 33 year old stating his intentions to hand up his gloves if the result does not go his way.