Former UFC champion Johny Hendricks retires from MMA

That’s a wrap.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion, Johny Hendricks, has retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) at the age of 34 sporting a professional record of 18-8 with nine finishes (eight knockouts, one submission).

“I’m done, I’m retiring, I’m getting out of the MMA world,” Hendricks told MMA Junkie. “I’ve been thinking about this long and hard for awhile. I made this decision two weeks ago, but I prayed about it and wanted to make sure I was going to be okay with it. I’ll call the UFC and tell them I’m done. I’ll call USADA and tell them I’m done.”

Once considered the best 170-pound fighter on the planet with a devastating left hand, Hendricks has not looked competitive in several years, even after his move to middleweight, which was expected to alleviate some of his weight-cutting issues.

It didn’t.

In fact, “Bigg Rigg” — a decorated collegiate wrestler and the first UFC fighter to be sponsored by Reebok — dropped five of his last six and got finished three times during that span. It’s an unfortunate end for a fighter who entered his Georges St-Pierre bout with a 15-1 record.

Hendricks will move forward and coach high school wrestling for the foreseeable future.