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Johny Hendricks bruised, bloodied and battered Georges St. Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory. With a second chance to claim the now-vacant belt when he faces Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 in Dallas on Saturday night, Hendricks refuses to let any frustration over that loss hinder him from finally climbing atop the 170-pound division. "As soon as the judges announced what they said, I had to put that in the back of my mind," Hendricks said. "Also, as soon as I got the fight with Robbie, everything else just disappeared. I have another great opportunity, and I dont want to waste it." Although Hendricks (15-2) wont get the chance to claim the title directly from St. Pierre, he hasnt showed much disappointment behind his bearded, bespectacled, aw-shucks Oklahoma persona. He didnt have time to stew: St. Pierre, the champion since late 2007, vacated his championship and stepped away from mixed martial arts right after that fight, leaving the UFC to match two top contenders for the right to be his successor. The choices were Hendricks and Lawler (22-9), a hard-hitting veteran who crashed out of the UFC before fighting his way back into title contention. Theyll meet at the American Airlines Center on a card also featuring Carlos Condit against Tyron Woodley in a bout that will likely determine the new champions next opponent. St. Pierres departure deprives the UFC of one of its biggest stars and pay-per-view draws, but the Quebecois champion left behind a division stacked with intriguing challengers. While Hendricks has been the class of the group, he also knows he could lose that spot by Sunday morning. "These other three guys, we all can make our own destiny," Hendricks said. "It doesnt matter if GSP is going to be here or not. Were all exciting. I think thats what makes the fans excited now, is that they dont know whats going to happen. They dont know if were going to knock each other out." Hendricks was an NCAA champion wrestler at Oklahoma State before picking up MMA, moving swiftly from smaller promotions to the UFC. He won 15 of his first 16 fights, including several against top-flight competition: Condit, Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch and T.J. Grant. But he couldnt do enough to wrest the title away from St. Pierre, who took much more cosmetic damage in their bout. Hendricks would love a rematch with St. Pierre if the longtime champ ever returns, but he thinks the rugged Lawler is a tougher matchup. "Georges, he was going to throw a jab, a high kick, a low kick, and try to take you down," Hendricks said confidently. "Thats his game plan. Robbie, if you make a mistake, weve seen it time and time again that he can knock you out, so you really have to make sure that you stay focused. Thats a lot more dangerous fight. There are guys who can knock people out. Youre one punch away from losing, but those are also the more fun fights for me." Hendricks badly bruised his hands in the fight against St. Pierre, leaving him throwing punches at only a fraction of their usual velocity. He plans to get better hand wraps from his boxing coach for this bout. Hell need healthy hands against Lawler, a touted prospect who got dropped from the UFC back in October 2004 after three losses in four fights. After a series of wins in smaller-time promotions, he lost five of his eight bouts in Strikeforce before getting a chance in the UFC, where he has strung together three straight wins over Koscheck, Bobby Voelker and top prospect Rory MacDonald to earn this shot. "Ive gone through a lot of ups and downs," Lawler said. "Im just willing to get back up and grind every day to try to get better. Everything is clicking at the right time." Wholesale Nike Basketball Shoes .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings take aim at an eighth straight victory on Monday night as they wrap up a road trip versus the Calgary Flames. Discount Basketball Shoes . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. http://www.wholesalebasketballshoes.com/ . -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. Basketball Shoes Outlet . She was a pioneer. She did things on skis that made the birds take notice. Cheap Chinese Basketball Shoes . It was a loss. But it was also a learning experience. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson had 24 points each to lift Brooklyn to a 94-87 win over the Raptors, making their first playoff appearance since 08. "I thought we played a little bit as expected as it is our first playoff game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Yankees will try to extend a four-game winning streak on Monday night as they return to Kansas City for a makeup game with the Royals. Tonights contest was made necessary when the finale of a four-game set between these clubs on June 9 was postponed. The Yankees won the opener of the series before the Royals bounced back with two straight wins. The Yankees are coming off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, winning Sundays finale 7-4 thanks to pinch-hitter Brian McCanns three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning. "It was awesome," McCann said. "To come off the bench, you know, pinch-hitting is not the easiest thing to do. So to get a pitch up in the zone and not miss it with the game on the line was special." New York is 3 1/2 games out of the second wild card spot in the American League and will start Michael Pineda tonight. Pineda has not gotten a decision in two starts since coming off the disabled list, but has allowed just three runs, six hits and one walk over 11 innings against Baltimore and Houston. "He was pretty good. I thought he got a little tired at the end, but thats to be expected," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about Pineda after his six- inning outing on Wednesday versus the Astros. "We pushed him a little bit, but I thought he gavve us a really good performance.dddddddddddd" The 25-year-old righty is 2-2 with a 2.05 earned run average in six starts this year and has split two previous meetings with the Royals while posting a 2.57 ERA. Kansas City is coming off a 6-3 road trip and leads the Detroit Tigers by two games for first place in the AL Central. This contest extends the Royals homestand to 10 games and theyll look to bounce back after a 3-1 loss to Texas on Sunday. Jason Vargas went six innings and was charged with three runs -- two earned -- on 11 hits and four walks. "I thought it was a start that he really had to grind out," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I thought he did a phenomenal job. He didnt have any clean innings, but I thought he did a phenomenal job keeping us in the game." Yost has to also be happy with how James Shields has pitched as of late and the right-hander goes tonight having posted a 3-0 mark over his last four starts. Shields is coming off a 7-4 win over Colorado on Tuesday, when he yielded a pair of runs over six innings while striking out six. That improved him to 12-6 on the year with a 3.28 ERA. The 32-year-old beat the Yankees on June 8 by a 2-1 score, charged with one unearned run over six frames. However, that still left Shields just 9-15 in his career versus New York with a 4.20 ERA. ' ' '