Hendricks is his own toughest critic

When Johny Hendricks first fought Robbie Lawler back in March, Hendricks was able to walk out of the cage as the UFC welterweight champion largely because of his work late in the fight.

A fifth-round takedown essentially clinched Hendricks the victory on the scorecards as he claimed the belt that had been vacated by Georges St. Pierre.

The tables were turned on Saturday night.

Lawler saved his best for last to win the final two rounds and take the belt from Hendricks in the main event of UFC 181 at Mandalay Bay.

Hendricks placed the blame squarely on himself.

“I didn’t fight. Look at the fourth and fifth round. I just didn’t fight,” Hendricks said at the post-fight news conference. “I didn’t come out the fourth and fifth like I normally do. It is what it is. I’m gonna be my worst critic. I don’t need you guys to come out and say he looked like (expletive). That’s my job. That’s what it was. I didn’t stay light on my feet like I should’ve. You get lost in the moment.

“That happened to me and I’ll be back.”

He may get another chance sooner than expected. Though the winner of Saturday’s fight was expected to next face Rory MacDonald, UFC president Dana White didn’t do much to dissuade the notion that a third fight between Hendricks and Lawler is a possibility instead.

“That’s not my call. Whatever the UFC wants, that’s what I’m going to do,” Hendricks said. “That’s my management’s job. My coaches, if they want the rematch right now then we’ll do the rematch. I’m perfectly fine with that.”

If the fight does come to fruition, Hendricks may take a different approach as far as his weight cut.

He famously walks around at about 215 pounds despite fighting in the 170-pound division. While he’s been used to cutting weight his entire life as an elite-level amateur wrestler, Hendricks indicated there was difficulty leading up to this fight.

Part of that could have been the fact he was recovering from surgery and had originally set a return date sometime in February or March of 2015 before agreeing to take the fight a few months early.

But Hendricks also pointed to the fact he puts on so many pounds between fights.

“The fight (Saturday) made me learn a lot about myself, a lot about what I need to do and what I need to correct in my camp,” he said on the Fox Sports 1 post-fight show. “A lot (involves) walking around at 215. I’m gonna make that decision to work with (noted MMA nutritional guru) Mike Dolce to stay around 195 and do everything right because I had that belt and I want it back.

“I love food too; don’t get me wrong. But I love that belt more than food.”

Hendricks did believe he had won the first three rounds of the fight and should have been awarded the decision, but he wasn’t outraged by the verdict.

“I’m not gonna take nothing away from Robbie Lawler. Robbie fought good,” Hendricks said. “He deserved to get his hand raised tonight.

“I just thought I won.”

CAREER CHANGE — UFC light heavyweight champion was among the many fighters to weigh in on social media about the organization’s announcement it had signed Phil Brooks, a professional wrestler with no real athletic resume who performed under the name CM Punk in WWE.

Jones tried to inject some humor into his commentary.

“BREAKING NEWS: I’m headlining wrestlemania 31,” he posted on Twitter.

That would actually make more sense.

HIS LIPS ARE SEALED — UFC heavyweight Travis Browne refused to reveal exactly what he said after stopping Brendan Schaub in the first round of their fight on Saturday night.

There was a great deal of trash talk between the two before the fight, which intensified when Schaub publicly criticized Browne for leaving Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, N.M., to train with Ronda Rousey’s coaches in California. Schaub has a history with both gyms.

Browne very clearly had words for Schaub after finishing him while in mount on his back, but said the matter was now in the past.

“There’s been a little bit of banter going back between our camp and him,” Browne said at the post-fight news conference. “When I get to know somebody like (Rousey’s coach) Edmond Tarverdyan, and know what kind of a coach he is — and not only that, but what kind of man he is — it makes it personal for me.

“So at the end, that was between (Schaub) and I and we’ll keep it in there. You know, he came up and he apologized for saying some of the stuff he did. It is what it is, but we’re moving forward.”

TWO EVENTS THIS WEEK — Another Las Vegas event is on tap for the UFC on Friday as the winner will be crowned for the current season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

The two semifinal bouts, taped earlier this year in Las Vegas, will air on Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329). The winners of those fights will then square off to determine the UFC’s first women’s strawweight champion on the Friday card at Palms.

A live event on Fox will air live Saturday night from Phoenix, with a heavyweight contender bout between Stipe Miocic and former champion Junior dos Santos serving as the main event.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.