It can be remembered that Johny Hendricks won over Robbie Lawler via decision last March. It was a title fight for the vacant UFC welterweight title. But it wasn't your usual UFC fight as Hendricks fought Lawler with a torn biceps. Hendricks had to undergo surgery right after the fight.
According to Hendricks "What happened was, my final day of hard training [for the Lawler fight], I felt something and I immediately said, 'Let's shut it down,' "he added "It was like someone dead-armed me. Then in the first round, my first attempt at a takedown, I tore the bicep fully. At that point, it's all about adrenaline and the discipline from your years of wrestling training and you just push your way through."
After a few wants after their fight, both fighters are at it again and ready to face each other once more. The champ fad his arm surgically repaired and now he is looking forward to fighting with Lawler healthy.
He said "I'm sort of excited about that. Going into something healthy, with two arms, would be nice. Yeah, I can face Robbie Lawler healthy, [with] everything going right, get in there and see if it is as close a fight as it was the first time. Because I'm healthy, both arms are active, I can do a lot more."
On the other hand, Lawler is out to avenge his defeat with Hendricks. His strategy is to get the match over quickly, saying "I just wanted to go out there and look to stop him. There were two winners in that cage tonight, and he's very impressive. He put on a good performance tonight."
He added "He's a hell of an opponent. He took a lot of shots, and I landed some big shots and he kept coming. Everything they said about that guy was true, and he's very tough."
Lawler said that he has gotten better since his last fight and he had trained harder to face Hendricks. "I'm going to do a lot different. I'm going to keep building on everything that I've been doing this year, but I'm going to do more. That's what that fight came down to - I need to do more. More punches, more kicks, more takedown defense. I just need to take the fight to him."
"I want to get right back in the gym and start working out and start working to get better and start training to be champion."
