UPDATE:
Dana White tweeted on Monday evening that Cormier vs. Henderson is not a done deal:
@arielhelwani Ariel is not correct. That fight is not done
Daniel Cormier will not be facing Rafael Cavalcante, after all.
A week after sources close to the promotion confirmed to Bleacher Report that the UFC wanted Cormier to face “Feijao” at UFC 175 in July, the promotion has switched directions. MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani today reported that the UFC has opted to instead offer Cormier a fight with Dan Henderson, who scored an incredible come-from-behind knockout win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua last week.
Helwani also said that if Henderson had turned down the fight, Cormier would still be pitted against Cavalcante.
Sources close to the bout confirmed the news with Bleacher Report on Monday.
UFC 175 is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida. Sources close to the bout told Bleacher Report that Cormier vs. Henderson is expected to fill the co-main event role.
UFC 175 is expected to be one of the UFC’s biggest of 2014. It is the cornerstone event for International Fight Week 2014, which also features The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale.
As far as a potential new opponent for Cavalcante, Mike Sawyer of ToughTalkMMA.com speculates that he’ll instead face Ovince St. Preux.
Cormier made his light heavyweight debut last month, beating late replacement Patrick Cummins by TKO in the first round. He is 14-0 thus far in his mixed martial arts career and was one of the UFC’s top heavyweights before electing to drop to 205 pounds.
Henderson has lost three consecutive fights prior to his win, but signed a new long-term contract with the promotion shortly before fighting Rua.
Both Cormier and Henderson are former members of the United States wrestling team.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com