Johny Hendricks got another crack at the welterweight championship title that eluded him against Georges St. Pierre when he took on Robbie Lawler at tonight's (Sat., Mar. 15, 2014) UFC 171 pay-per-view (PPV) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. This after nearly screwing it up by coming dangerously close to missing weight.
It didn't matter.
He won like he thought he did when he fought St. Pierre, this time coming out on the winning end of a close decision by scores of 48-47 across the board.
And it was one hell of a battle.
Hendricks controlled the action early, winning the exchanges in the first two rounds. In the third, however, Lawler had "Bigg Rigg" in trouble when he stunned him with a hard left hand.
Showing the heart of the champion he would eventually become, Hendricks gritted his way to the end of the round, struggled through the next one, and relied on his grappling and pure striking instincts to take the final frame.
By the end, he had earned the 170-pound title.
That said, hats off to Lawler, who few thought could come in and turn in a performance like this after he was supposed to be blown away in the fight before this, let alone this one. He'll be back and better than ever, no doubt.
Did you enjoy this fight, Maniacs? Was it good enough to make you forget about a certain French-Canadian welterweight king?
For more on "Hendricks vs. Lawler" click here, and for complete UFC 171 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.