Matt Hughes: Hendricks was trying to win rounds, and that’s ‘not a champion the UFC wants’

After his split decision loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 181, Johny Hendricks lamented that he “didn’t fight,” a fact that ultimately cost him the title.

Turns out there are others who echo those same sentiments. Namely former welterweight champion — and Lawler’s longtime friend/training partner — Matt Hughes, who was on hand in Las Vegas to watch Saturday night’s main event. It was Hughes who wrapped the belt around Lawler’s waste in what he called a “torch passing ceremony.”

And on Monday, during an appearance on The MMA Hour, Hughes said that Hendricks has only himself to blame for coming up short. Why? Because while Lawler was trying to win the fight, Hendricks was trying to pack away rounds.

“I believe that he got this from [Georges St-Pierre],” he told Ariel Helwani. “GSP is not a guy to go out and win fights. GSP wants to win three of the five rounds. He wants to win a round, then win another round, then win another round…and I think Johny really tried to do the same thing. Not go out there and win the fight, but go out there and win rounds. That’s not the most exciting thing to watch, watching a guy go out and try to win rounds. People want to see people go out and finish the fight.”

Lawler won a split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) to take home the belt, which was met with a marginal outcry from spectators who believed Hendricks was controlling the Octagon with his wrestling. Though Hendricks spent portions of the fight posting Lawler into the fence trying to dump him to the canvas, Lawler punished him for his deeds. And that sort of conservatism is why Hughes believes he ended up losing.

“I think Johny got caught up in the whole aspect of trying to win rounds based on takedowns,” he said. “You never saw Johny go out there and try to finish the fight. Even a couple of times, when he had maybe Robbie stumbling a little bit where he could have capitalized on that. I think Johny will go back…I think Johny definitely had a hard weight cut, and that’ll be corrected the next fight. And I think he’ll go in with a game plan of, I’ve got an opportunity to finish this fight, let’s not let it go to the judges.”

The scorecards surprised Hughes less than Hendricks’ reluctance to fight with an urgency to put Lawler away, a trait he hadn’t seen before.

“Johny’s a finisher — he really is,” Hughes said. “I think that first fight with Robbie [at UFC 171 in March], he got hit a couple of times and he did not want to get hit by Robbie again like that and to take the blows. So I’m not saying it’s not a smart thing to do. I know how Robbie hits. I’ve trained with him many times.

“But that’s just not the way to go about things. That’s not a champion the UFC wants. Maybe I’m speaking out of turn here, but they don’t want a champion who’s going to tie somebody up, put them against the fence and try to just win single rounds and not try and close the fight.”

After his split decision loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 181, Johny Hendricks lamented that he “didn’t fight,” a fact that ultimately cost him the title.

Turns out there are others who echo those same sentiments. Namely former welterweight champion — and Lawler’s longtime friend/training partner — Matt Hughes, who was on hand in Las Vegas to watch Saturday night’s main event. It was Hughes who wrapped the belt around Lawler’s waste in what he called a “torch passing ceremony.”

And on Monday, during an appearance on The MMA Hour, Hughes said that Hendricks has only himself to blame for coming up short. Why? Because while Lawler was trying to win the fight, Hendricks was trying to pack away rounds.

“I believe that he got this from [Georges St-Pierre],” he told Ariel Helwani. “GSP is not a guy to go out and win fights. GSP wants to win three of the five rounds. He wants to win a round, then win another round, then win another round…and I think Johny really tried to do the same thing. Not go out there and win the fight, but go out there and win rounds. That’s not the most exciting thing to watch, watching a guy go out and try to win rounds. People want to see people go out and finish the fight.”

Lawler won a split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) to take home the belt, which was met with a marginal outcry from spectators who believed Hendricks was controlling the Octagon with his wrestling. Though Hendricks spent portions of the fight posting Lawler into the fence trying to dump him to the canvas, Lawler punished him for his deeds. And that sort of conservatism is why Hughes believes he ended up losing.

“I think Johny got caught up in the whole aspect of trying to win rounds based on takedowns,” he said. “You never saw Johny go out there and try to finish the fight. Even a couple of times, when he had maybe Robbie stumbling a little bit where he could have capitalized on that. I think Johny will go back…I think Johny definitely had a hard weight cut, and that’ll be corrected the next fight. And I think he’ll go in with a game plan of, I’ve got an opportunity to finish this fight, let’s not let it go to the judges.”

The scorecards surprised Hughes less than Hendricks’ reluctance to fight with an urgency to put Lawler away, a trait he hadn’t seen before.

“Johny’s a finisher — he really is,” Hughes said. “I think that first fight with Robbie [at UFC 171 in March], he got hit a couple of times and he did not want to get hit by Robbie again like that and to take the blows. So I’m not saying it’s not a smart thing to do. I know how Robbie hits. I’ve trained with him many times.

“But that’s just not the way to go about things. That’s not a champion the UFC wants. Maybe I’m speaking out of turn here, but they don’t want a champion who’s going to tie somebody up, put them against the fence and try to just win single rounds and not try and close the fight.”