“I think that’s from my past in wrestling,” Hendricks told Sporting News. “Being in that kind of predicament for years and your sitting there and a lot of times you think would be a lot better off. Then all of a sudden, you are injured and you have to train through the season or you have to push through a match. That way you can have that time off. Its just one of those things you just have to sit there and say, ‘Ok, it happened and you can’t do nothing about it, you have to move forward. Is it going to be a crutch’? 

“I was always raised even if its a crutch, you still try to claim it. I would have kept it (torn bicep) a secret if it wasn’t for some people pressing the right way.”

Hendricks had surgery to repair the bicep and hasn’t fought since. By the time he steps into the cage on Saturday night, it will 265 days since Hendricks was in the cage. Lawler has fought two times since then, defeating Jake Ellenberger in May at UFC 173 and Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 12 in July. The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State had a hunch that ‘Ruthless’ would be his first title defense.

“I did actually because once I got injured, I knew that he (Lawler) was going to be tough to beat,” Hendricks said. “I figured what would happen is it was going to be between him and Rory MacDonald. You know Matt Brown went on such a tear that he got that fight (with Lawler) and then it was between those two. I knew whoever was going to win that was going to happen. Once I knew that, I thought that maybe Robbie Lawler would win, but Matt Brown is also tough. I sort of like to sit on the outskirts of that one, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

It was a long journey for Hendricks to get the belt as he was so close to winning the title against former champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 in November of last year. St-Pierre won by a razor-thin unanimous decision in a fight a lot of people had Hendricks winning. Shortly after the fight St-Pierre announced he was taking a sabbatical from the sport hence the fight between Hendricks and Lawler in March. No longer hunting for the belt, Hendricks has become the hunted with the bullseye on his back. Hendricks wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love it, there’s nothing better than being the hunted,” Hendricks said. “Here’s what makes it different. Even though I’m hunting lions, I’m still the one with the rifle. Here’s the thing, who cares, they are all studs in the welterweight division. Right now, everyone wants to beat me. But the little thing they don’t know is that I’m not focused on myself. I focus on each one of them. Right now, I’m focused on Robbie Lawler and how do I get through Robbie Lawler? Nothing else matters, nobody else matters, the belt doesn’t matter. I have to win. That’s what I think is going to help me win this fight. I know how to keep my focus, how to hone in my skills for certain things and not lose yourself on others.”

Steven Muehlhausen is an experienced MMA writer and contributor for Sporting News. Find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.