Experts baffled as the unthinkable happens at UFC 217 weigh-ins…
Former UFC welterweight champion, Johny Hendricks, has had his share of problems making weight in recent years. In fact, heading into UFC 217, he has failed in 3 of his last 4 attempts to do so.
While the scale has seemingly been Hendricks’ biggest enemy, he’s also lost 4 of his last 5 bouts, and 5 of his last 7. He can’t afford many more losses, either on the scale or in the cage.
Johny Hendricks Likes to Eat
It’s been almost 4 full years since Hendricks and George St. Pierre last appeared on the same fight card. GSP defeated Hendricks via controversial split-decision at UFC 167 that night.
A lot has changed since that time. USADA has brought more stringent drug testing into the sport and “Big Rig” has seemingly never been the same. After winning and losing the welterweight title and then getting knocked out of title contention by Stephen Thompson, Hendricks began having trouble with his weight.
After missing weight twice in a row at UFC 200 and UFC 217, Hendricks moved up to middleweight. He won his middleweight debut by defeating Hector Lombard, but then missed weight his next bout against Tim Boetsh. Today’s weigh-ins are just the 2nd time he’s made weight in his last 5 fights.
UFC 217: Johny Hendricks vs. Paulo Borrachinha
Hendricks is 1-1 at middleweight so far and would need to go on quite a winning streak to get into the title picture of the packed middleweight division. The UFC hasn’t exactly thrown him an easy bout for 217 either.
His opponent, Paulo Borrachinha, is a 26-year-old undefeated Brazilian who made his UFC debut this March. At UFC Fight Night 106, he knocked out Garreth McLellan in just over a minute. He had his second UFC fight at 212 back in June, where he defeated Oluwale Bamgbose via TKO in the 2nd round. This Saturday will be his first time fighting outside of Brazil, however.
Borrachinha won 2 championships back in Brazil before signing with the UFC, as he won both the Jungle Fights and FTF middleweight championships. His record is now 10-0.
Watch the UFC 217 Weigh-Ins
Here are the full results from today’s official UFC 217 weigh-ins:
Main card (PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
Michael Bisping (184.6) vs. Georges St-Pierre (184.4)
Cody Garbrandt (135) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (134.8)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (115) vs. Rose Namajunas (114)
Stephen Thompson (170.4) vs. Jorge Masvidal (171)
Johny Hendricks (185.8) vs. Paulo Borrachinha (185.8)
Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
James Vick (155.2) vs. Joseph Duffy (155.4)
Walt Harris (251.8) vs. Mark Godbeer (244)
Ovince Saint Preux (205) vs. Corey Anderson (205.4)
Randy Brown (170.8) vs. Mickey Gall (169.8)
Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET)
Oleksiy Oliynyk (246.2) vs. Curtis Blaydes (258.8)
Ion Cutelaba (205.6) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (205.2)
Aiemann Zahabi (135.2) vs. Ricardo Ramos (135.4)
UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden will be the first fight for Hendricks since switching camps to the Jackson-Wink team in Albuquerque, NM. Earlier this week, Hendricks had this to say regarding his time with the team:
“One of the reasons why I went there is because they’ve already trained for me a couple of times,” Hendricks told reporters. “They’ve been on the opposite side of me, so they know what kind of fighter I was, and what kind of fighter I want to be now.”
“(Greg) Jackson, he’s so smart when it comes to that aspect. And then (Mike) Wink, yo, he’s right there with him. You put those two together, and put my boxing coach in there – you give me a year with those three – Jackson, Wink, and my boxing coach Tony (Cabello), I don’t think anybody beats me on my feet. I don’t think anybody beats me in a year.”
