Hendricks Urges Welterweight Division To Continue Without Him

With a sidelining injury and a lengthy rehab schedule, newly minted UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, is urging the other competitors in his division to continue in his absence.

The champ told MMAJunkie,

“How many people are claiming they deserve a shot at me? I’ll be out for a little bit longer, so I would like to have them all fight one more time.”

“How many people in the last year were the No. 1 contender? Just one: It was me. That’s what you work for. You don’t work to be one of the four, one of the five or one of the six guys who think they deserve it and hopefully get picked. They should fight. Then instead of picking from four, you can pick from one or two. That’s what I’m looking at.”

“I don’t care who I fight. Now that I’m at the top, I know I’m going to have to run through everybody, and that’s what I plan on doing. Whoever the UFC thinks is the No. 1 contender, let’s fight them, get through them, and then move on to the next one.”

“I’m saying I’ll return anywhere from September to November. I know that’s a huge spread, but if I’m healing up quickly, which I believe I’m going to, then September is easy. Then again, I don’t want to push it too quick because if I reinjure it, I’ll be out even longer.”

“I want to push myself to the limit, but I want to keep it within the doctor’s range.”