Early on, it'd be crazy to say that Johny Hendricks doesn't finish fights.

"Bigg Rigg" gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous knockout artists in all of mixed martial arts (MMA), let alone the welterweight division, thanks to devastating finishes over Jon Fitch, Martin Kampmann, and Charlie Brenneman, just to name a few.

And though former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Matt Hughes recognizes Hendricks as a true finisher, he seems to think "Bigg Rigg" is now taking a page out of Georges St-Pierre's playbook; looking to win rounds instead of trying to close out the fight.

That, according to Hughes, is what ultimately cost him the title this past weekend (Sat., Dec. 6, 2-14) against Robbie Lawler in the UFC 181 main event (video highlights).

His words on The MMA Hour:

"I don't think Johny was effective on his take downs as he thought he was planning on being. I think that really hurt him. I think the crowd actually hurt Johny because they were booing so much on his take downs, and the judges hear that. So when the crowd is yelling, that's not good for the judges. And also, I believe Johny got this from GSP, GSP is not a guy to go out and finish fights. He wants to win three of the five rounds. He wants to win a round, win another round and then win another. Johny really tried to do the same thing; which is not go out there and win fights, but go out there and win rounds. That's not the most exciting thing to watch, is watch a guy go out and try to win rounds. People want to see a guy go out and finish the fight. I think Johny got caught up in the whole aspect of trying to win rounds based on take downs. You never saw Johny go out there and try to finish the fight. There were a couple of times when he had Robbie stumbling a bit where he could've capitalized on it. I think Johny had a hard weight cut, I think that affected him. I think now he will go in with the mindset of finishing the fight and not let it go to the judges."

Sure, St-Pierre ruled the 170-pound weight class for a long time with that mentality and fighting style, but it didn't pan out so well for Johny, losing his belt in his first-ever title defense against the man he defeated nine months ago to claim it.

In Matt's view, UFC doesn't necessarily want a champion who doesn't do his best to finish a fight.

"I was surprised because Johny is a finisher, he really is. But I think in that first fight with Robbie, he got hit a couple of times and he didn't want to get hit by Robbie again, like that and take the blows. I'm not saying it's not a smart thing to do, because I know how Robbie hits, I've sparred with him plenty of times. I'm not saying that it won't save his career where he's not taking those big hits down the road, but that's just not the way about doing things. That's not a champion the UFC wants. Maybe I'm speaking out of turn here, but they don't want a champion that just tries to win single rounds and not try to close the fight."

Hendricks did admit he didn't fight the way he should've in the later rounds, but he can thank a tough weight cut for that. Nevertheless, "Bigg Rigg" will have plenty of time to revamp and go back to his head-hunting ways on his road back to the title.

As for the current champ, well, you won't have to tell Lawler to finish a fight, as the hard-hitting welterweight is known for pushing the pace in search of the knockout, much like did late in the fight against Hendricks.

For the record, during his title reign, Hughes didn't have trouble finishing his bouts as seven of his championship wins came by way of stoppage.