Johny "Big Rigg" Hendricks needs a win if he is to get a big gig again

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  • Hendricks is hoping to return to the top of the UFC.

    For former champion Johny Hendricks the five-round bout with Stephen Thompson, now the main event after Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez’s injury pullouts, is a must-win.

    And that’s a position difficult to comprehend when you consider just over a year ago Hendricks was viewed as the heir apparent to George St-Pierre’s throne.

    Two split decision losses, one to the semi-retired Canadian legend and the other to the current champ Robbie Lawler, has seen Hendricks slide out of the championship picture.

    He’s had disastrous weight cuts, most notably dropping out of a title eliminator against Tyron Woodley at UFC 192, and distractions away from the Octagon after losing his Steakhouse.

    Now, ‘Bigg Rigg’ finds himself in a position where has to prove he’s ready for another big gig against an unheralded but talented Thompson. And the 32-year-old is determined to do just that.

    “Yeah, I wish a lot of things could have went different but they didn’t and it is what it is,” Hendricks told ESPN.com. “I’m still that guy, though. The best way I can say it is that I’m going to be there again.

    “What I’m saying every day now is, ‘How do I erase everything that happened?’ And it’s by proving to the world where I belong.”

    While Hendricks is making the climb back to the top, Thompson is on his first ascent.

    After arriving in the UFC four years ago as a formidable kickboxing champ, ‘Wonderboy’, has crept up the rankings and is riding high on a five-fight winning streak.

    Indeed, he is a man with title ambitions of his own but in Hendricks he faces a step up in class.

    “Fighting Johny Hendricks is definitely my goal as a fighter,” Thompson told MMA Junkie.

    “I want to fight the best guys in the world and he definitely is. He’s a former welterweight champion and still has the skills and abilities to be champion, but I feel confident in my training and myself that I can beat these guys.”

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