Robbie Lawler and Georges St. Pierre still stand in Johny Hendricks’ way

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014 | 2 a.m.

For a fighter coming off the longest layoff of his career, Johny Hendricks improbably returns to an identical situation in the UFC from when he left.

The 31-year-old welterweight from Dallas headlines UFC 181 Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center against Robbie Lawler — the same opponent he faced in March when he tore his right bicep to initiate the hiatus.

And once again, just as much discussion, if not more, is devoted to the single fighter who’s beaten Hendricks in the last four years. Hendricks can’t avoid questions regarding retired champion Georges St. Pierre, whom controversially won a split decision over him in November 2013.

“When I was facing GSP, I knew he wasn’t going to knock me out,” Hendricks said of the differences in the two opponents currently defining his career. “So if he caught me with one, you’d be like, ‘oh, ha ha.’ If Robbie does that, it could be the last thing and you’re waking up the next morning like, ‘what the hell happened?’”

Call the unchanged nature of the 170-pound weight class amid Hendricks’ absence the perks of being champion. For the first time since deciding to try mixed martial arts after a national-championship career as a college wrestler at Oklahoma State seven years ago, Hendricks isn’t chasing the top of the division.

The rest of the welterweights now line up to Hendricks. He spent his downtime watching the division play out from afar following a Fight of the Year nominee with Lawler at UFC 171 that required gutting out a unanimous-decision victory in the final two minutes.

Hendricks had mixed emotions as he witnessed Lawler run through Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown to claim another shot at the welterweight title.

“It would be nice to train for someone else for three and a half months, learn some new skills,” Hendricks said. “But with this fight, I had to learn some new skills because Robbie is that type of fighter. Even though I faced him once, he still does some things that I have to be aware of.”

Hendricks already has five more names in mind as potential opponents should he get past Lawler for his first title defense. He believes Rory MacDonald, Tyron Woodley, Hector Lombard, Matt Brown and Carlos Condit are all worthy of title shots.

No one is going to let St. Pierre’s name slip past Hendricks, however, even with the champion sounding somewhat dismissive of his predecessor who held the belt for a total of seven years.

St. Pierre decided to take a break after retaining his title against Hendricks, but UFC President Dana White has all but guaranteed the superstar’s return in 2014.

“There’s still a part of me that thinks if I lose, he comes back,” Hendricks said. “If I win, I think he’ll try to take a little bit more time to prepare.”

St. Pierre is currently overcoming a torn ACL suffered in practice after he stepped away. Hendricks can commiserate with nursing a gruesome injury.

He hurt his biceps 10 days before the first Lawler fight so badly that he couldn’t as much as pick up a gallon of water. By the end of the first round, Hendricks described the pain as among the worst he ever experienced.

He fought through it, but then went into surgery after the fight where the muscle was removed and repaired. Hendricks could only rehab and not train for nearly four months.

“It was actually sort of refreshing,” Hendricks said. “Don’t get me wrong; I wanted to be in there because when you see these guys competing at your weight class, you want to be right there with them but I also had a fractured leg. My body was beaten up after three years of fighting at the top level and trying to get in as many fights as I could a year to be the top contender.”

Hendricks no longer needs to deploy that strategy. Now that he’s champion, he plans to only fight twice per year.

He’d like to return in April 2015 if he beats Lawler, but couldn’t care less whether it’s against St. Pierre or someone else.

“I want my own legacy now,” Hendricks said. “If he’s not in it again, there’s enough fighters at my weight class that if I can get through all these guys that’s going to be a legacy of its own. If he comes back, then yes, I will face him again.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.