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 Air Max Shoes . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution. Cheap Air Max 2017 . Dwyane Wade followed a few days later. http://www.airmaxoutletsale.us/ . LOUIS -- The Tampa Bay Rays have placed right-handed pitcher Joel Peralta on the 15-day disabled list with an undisclosed illness. Air max Outlet . At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish. Cheap Air Max Sale . The Force had two men, including former Wallabies No. 8 Ben McCalman, in the sin-bin in the dying minutes of the match, but were able to resist a late Highlanders surge to post a four-try, bonus point win.CLEVELAND -- The Los Angeles Lakers left Canadian Robert Sacre on the court after he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike DAntoni felt it was the best move for his depleted team. Its been that kind of year for the short-handed Lakers. Los Angeles lost two more players to injuries on Wednesday night and had to go to a little-known NBA rule to hold on for a 119-108 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. "That was, by far, one of the strangest games Ive ever seen," DAntoni said. Rookie Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 26 points and Steve Blake had his first career triple-double for Los Angeles, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Lakers set a franchise record for 3-pointers, going 18 for 37 from long range. But Los Angeles first win in two weeks was overshadowed by a bizarre ending. The Lakers had eight available players coming into the game. Then Nick Young twisted his left knee in the first half and Chris Kaman fouled out early in the fourth quarter. When Jordan Farmar left with leg cramps in the final period, that put Los Angeles at five players. Sacre committed his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining, but the North Vancouver, B.C., native stayed in the game because DAntoni was out of healthy bodies. The Lakers were assessed a technical foul. "That was just crazy," Sacre said. "When I got my sixth foul, I was just like, Oh, dang! Then I got to come back in, so I thought it was something special. I didnt know what was going on." Each side has to have five players on the court at all times during an NBA game. With the Lakers down to five healthy players, DAntoni was informed by the officials that he could leave Sacre on the floor and any addition foul on the centre would also result in a technical. "I didnt know about that rule, but its a nice rule," DAntoni said with a chuckle. The Lakers were without Steve Nash (rest), Jodie Meeks (sprained ankle) and Jordan Hill (strained neck). Pau Gasol (groin) and Kobe Bryant (knee) remained in Los Angeles for the three-game road trip. The situation was so unusual that Nash, who was in street clothes, went to the locker room and put on his uniform late in the game, but DAntoni said he had no intention of putting the point guard into the game. "I was not going to go to Nash -- it was not an option to us -- but the other thing we talked about was having Jordan go out there and just stand in the corner," DAntoni said. "When the officials came over to explaiin the options to me, we decided to keep Robert out there.dddddddddddd I knew he would be smart and not commit too many more fouls." Nash played for the first time since Nov. 10 on Tuesday night after being out because of a nerve problem in his back. Meeks sprained his right ankle about a minute into Tuesdays game and Hill was elbowed in the head by Kaman. Farmar scored 21 points and Wesley Johnson added 20 for the Lakers, who shot 53 per cent from the field. Blake had 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. C.J. Miles led Cleveland with 27 points. All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was taken out with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter and finished with 11 points as the Cavaliers lost their sixth consecutive game, tying their longest losing streak of the season. Anderson Varejao was the only starter to play in the fourth quarter as Miles, Anthony Bennett of Brampton, Ont., Matthew Dellavedova and Dion Waiters got the Cavaliers back in the game. "They definitely deserved to be on the floor," Irving said. "That second group did a heck of a job. You have to give a whole bunch of credit to them. If I were the coach, I would have played that second group as long as he did." "Maybe we can learn something from what that group did on the floor," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "They played the right way." The Lakers built a 29-point lead in the second quarter and led 96-68 late in the third period before the Cavaliers rallied. Cleveland cut the lead to 100-90 early in the fourth and got to 114-108 before Blakes 3-pointer with 56.9 seconds left finally sealed the win. While the Cavaliers were off Tuesday, the Lakers lost in Minnesota and flew through a snowstorm to arrive in Cleveland around 2 a.m. Wednesday. While Los Angeles had 22 assists on 25 field goals while building a 70-49 halftime lead, Clevelands offence was stagnant. The Cavaliers shot 37 per cent from the field and were 1 of 18 on 3-pointers. NOTES: The Cavaliers hung a new banner of Austin Carrs retired No. 34 jersey from the rafters at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday. The original banner vanished last week and is still missing. Carr was the first player drafted by the franchise in 1971 and currently works as a TV colour analyst for the team. ... Nash is expected to play Friday night in Philadelphia. ... Lakers G Manny Harris second 10-day contract expired and the team chose not to re-sign him for the rest of the season. Harris went out on a high note with 18 points against Minnesota. ' ' '