On the UFC 139 fight card, former UFC and Pride champions Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua collide in a light heavyweight battle that would help shape the title picture at 205 pounds.
The possibilities are endless with this fight. One fighter may end up being next in line—and somehow jump Rashad Evans, AGAIN—for a shot at Jon Jones or Lyoto Machida’s belt.
But according to Eduardo Alonso—Shogun’s manager—the former UFC light heavyweight champion isn’t looking past Henderson.
“Fighting for the belt or not is a natural consequence, it’s not something we have to worry about. We can’t predict what will come to us,” said Alonso in an interview with Brazilian website Tatame.com. “The important [thing] is for us to do our jobs, then later we’ll see. If it’s worth the title, great. If it’s not, there’s no big deal about it, we’ll keep on working.”
Henderson has become a legend in the sport. Henderson, in his last fight, came in and beat former No. 1 pound-for-pound king and the greatest fighter of all-time in some people’s minds, Fedor Emelianenko, by first round knockout.
The fact that Henderson is a legend has gotten Shogun excited about the fight.
“I guess a win over Dan Henderson, to anyone, is a big deal. It doesn’t matter in which division it is. Dan Henderson is on top since Rings,” said Alonso. “He’s the current Strikeforce champion in the weight class, he’s coming from impressive wins, including the one over Fedor, which is something we can never undermine. Beating Dan Henderson is a great deal for one’s career.”
With a win, some think Henderson could get a shot at the middleweight belt, even though his win would be at the light heavyweight level. For Shogun, though, a move to middleweight wouldn’t be in the cards.
“Honestly, I don’t think about it. Shogun is a guy who naturally weights over 100kg [around 220 pounds]. His legs are heavy, so it’s hard for him to lose weight. He can drop to 93kg [around 205 pounds] and perform in high level,” said Alonso. “Few athletes have beaten up so many top 10 athletes like Shogun did. I don’t see why he’d drop to the middleweight division…It’d be hard on him, I guess he’d suffer a lot”.
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