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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks remains on the mend after undergoing surgery earlier this year, and it appears his return won't be coming until February at the earliest.
That's according to his coach Kenny Monday, and manager Ted Ehrhardt, who said in an interview with ESPN.com this week that there don't seem to be any spaces available for him until then.
Monday says Hendricks is at 85% recovery from the injuries he suffered earlier this year, but both he and Ehrhardt say the schedule's simply been booked up.
"I know everyone would have loved January, but it doesn't look like that's going to work out," Monday said. "I'm thinking he fights in February or March."
"The last thing the UFC wanted was to start promoting a fight and have to postpone it if Johny had a setback," Ehrhardt added. "He's well past that point now but the schedule is full. He's a main event fighter and all the main events are taken. It looks like he'll fight sometime in February."
His return fight will come against the man he beat to capture the title this March, Robbie Lawler.
Penick's Analysis: Honestly, they could plug the Hendricks-Lawler fight on top of Anderson Silva-Nick Diaz on Super Bowl weekend, giving that pay-per-view an anticipated title fight along with that Silva-Diaz fight, and it could work. Some may not see it as the "actual" main event, but it would be deserving of that spot given Silva-Diaz is a fight between two guys on two-fight losing streaks.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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