would be a very simple system that allows anything to be challenged.

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." Nike Shox Cheap Free Shipping . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Nike Shox Cheap Wholesale . His brother — Red Lake chiropractor Richard Radford — is en route to Sochi to cheer on his younger brother. "Ive been getting texts from Eric and he just says the atmosphere is amazing, its special,” he said. http://www.nikeshoxdiscount.com/. James scored 25 points against his former team, leading the energized Heat to a 114-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. Dwyane Wade added 24 points and Chris Bosh had 22 for the Heat, idle since a 90-84 loss Tuesday at Indiana. Nike Shox Cheap China . - Justin Turner is at his best with runners in scoring position, and he delivered again in a big spot for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nike Shox Clearance Wholesale . Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is up to the Philadelphia 76ers, proud possessors of a win streak for the first time since two weeks before the Olympics began. Any task worth doing is worth doing with commitment, and while you can argue whether tanking to get a good draft pick should be worth doing, thats the system, and the Sixers have been crafting a masterpiece. Before Saturday night they had lost 26 in a row, 29 of 30, and 36 of 39, and 27 straight losses would have a set a new record for consecutive defeats. But Saturday in Philly, the Sixers pulled one out, blowing out the hapless Detroit Pistons by 25 and getting a standing ovation. It was a raft in an ocean, a blip in the sky. But now, no matter what, they can say this: it could have been worse. Steve Simmons, Sun Media My thumb is up to Gregg Popovich, who just might be the greatest coach in the history of professional sport. And I dont say that lightly with terrific respect for the work done by Scotty Bowman and Phil Jackson and Bill Belichick, and yeah, certainly Vince Lombardi. Put your championships aside for a moment - this is the 15th straight season in which Popovichs San Antonio Spurs have won between 50 and 63 games in the NBA. To put that into perspective, thats the same number of 50-win seasons combined over that time that the Knicks, Celtics, Bulls, Warriors, Nets, Wizards, Pacers, 76ers, Bobcats, Hawks, and Raptors have won. Having Tim Duncan helps. But Duncan at 37 is slowingg down.ddddddddddddHeading to another 60 win season, Gregg Popovich doesnt seem to be. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to the R&A, for finally entering a new century. The 20th. The Royal and Ancient is urging its membership to allow women to become members of the venerable St. Andrews golf club in Scotland when it votes in September. This is a mere 260 years after the home of golf was founded, which qualifies as progress. Two other courses in the Open Championship rotation, Muirfield and Royal St. Georges, have yet to tiptoe down this perilous path to equality. By comparison, the nice gentlemen at Augusta National, which started accepting female members in 2012 - hello, Condoleeza Rice! - look like wild-eyed progressives. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, for making me seem less crazy than others think I am. I have been saying for years that the complexities of video review are confusing and unnecessary, and that a better system would be a very simple system that allows anything to be challenged. And no less an authority than Belichick is leading a push in this direction in the NFL. Never mind "this can be challenged under certain circumstances, but not that under any circumstances"--as Belichick says, "if a coach thinks his team has been victimized by a bad call, he should be able to question it, and its up to him to use the limited number of challenge flags with that in mind." As I say, "challenges might actually be fewer--same with wrong calls--and replay rules would be simpler. You can challenge those assumptions, but Bill Belichick wont. ' ' '