Johny hendricks was on top of the world just three years ago when he lost an ultra close split decision to Georges St. Pierre who was unbeatable at the time. Everyone thought he deserved a win but at the minimum a rematch, but the champion thought it best to retire. He faced off with Robbie Lawler next and finally captured the title, but an injury kept him out of the cage and when he returned at the end of the year, Lawler had worked his way back to the title. That did not go Hendricks way and he lost by split decision.
The loss spurred a return to his wrestling ways when he just held onto Matt Brown for three rounds to squeak out a win and another set of injuries kept him out for another year and he returned to be knocked out by Stephen Thompson in the first round in about three minutes. Now, he is looking to return in July against TUF champion Kelvin Gastelum who has also had a rough run in his career.
Gastelum started his career in the UFC at 5-0 and took out fan favorite and tournament favorite Uriah Hall in his debut. He went down to 17p in his next bout and started a string of wins that would propel him toward the title. Unfortunately, he missed weight twice the second time very badly when he missed by about ten pounds and lost a decision to Tyron Woodley. He had to move up to Middleweight and beat former title contender Nate Marquardt and then convinced the UFC to let him go back down to 170 since he claims he could not win the title at 185.
Even without the use of IV rehydration, Gastelum made weight for his next fight against perennial fighter Neil Magny. He lost the first three rounds on his way to a split decision loss. Now, he will face off with a former champion. Only one can regain their momentum in the division, but the question will be who it is and how?