But plans changed, and according to Hendricks' manager Ted Ehrhardt, the former UFC welterweight champion accepted the fight against Brown "just to keep busy."
"We didn't want to wait around," Ehrhardt told MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani. "Lawler didn't want to fight until the summer, but we wanted to keep fighting.
"Title shot or not, no one wants to sit around another six or seven more months."
When asked whether he was told that a victory over Brown guaranteed Hendricks his expected title shot, Ehrhardt said, "We had a title shot without fighting [Brown], so why wouldn't we?"
"Robbie was looking for a little break after fighting four fights and 21 rounds in 13 months," Lambert told Helwani. "He was hoping for no sooner than May."
