After a month of nearly no MMA news in March, things heated up quickly in the month of April as UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos now likely sits without an opponent following Alistair Overeem’s failed drug test.
Dos Santos was set to meet the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion at the event scheduled for May 26th, but the failed drug test will almost certainly lead to the bout being completely cancelled as Overeem will be suspended for a period of time yet to be determined.
Top contenders Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, who UFC president Dana White confirmed will still meet one another on the same card, have had their names thrown around as potential replacements for Overeem, but that has obviously since fell through.
The depth of the UFC heavyweight division has never been stronger, however, the top-tier talent has thinned out significantly following injuries to and retirements from many of those top stars.
Without a logical opponent for Dos Santos to fight, it is now believed that the title fight will be scrapped entirely, with Dos Santos waiting to meet the winner of the Velasquez vs. Mir bout at a later date.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, current UFC light heavyweight contender Dan Henderson might have just given the UFC an excellent opportunity. On April 6, Henderson tweeted that he would be interested in potentially moving up in weight to replace Overeem and compete against the heavyweight champion at UFC 146.
For sure..RT @Jitterbug2Djent: @danhendo Would you take the JDS fight if offered?
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) April 6, 2012
To some who are just watching the sport casually, Henderson’s tweet may have come off as being somewhat nonchalant and lacking sincerity, but those who have followed him throughout his career know that if he says it, he means it.
Henderson would absolutely accept the fight with Dos Santos and, quite frankly, the UFC should be jumping at the opportunity to give it to him.
Following victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in late 2011, Henderson is perceived to be next in line for a UFC light heavyweight title shot after the Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans bout at UFC 145.
However, as we have seen many times in the past, being the one who everyone thinks is going to get the next shot at the title doesn’t always mean that it’s going to happen. Even if White says it’s going to happen, it’s still not a guarantee.
Henderson knows that. If he’s not getting an immediate title fight and he has an opportunity in another division, what’s stopping him from taking off or adding on a few pounds to make money as the headliner of a pay-per-view event?
Some might argue that Henderson’s eyes might be bigger than his appetite, but let’s not forget that this wouldn’t be the first time that he has competed against a top-level heavyweight. His first-round knockout of the great Fedor Emelianenko this past July also took place in the heavyweight division.
Not only that, but with Dos Santos not being one of the larger heavyweights in the division, the weight difference wouldn’t be much more between Henderson and Dos Santos than it was with Henderson and Fedor.
From a business standpoint, this fight makes all the sense in the world. Though it hasn’t always been the UFC’s most important title, the perception still remains that no fan should miss a heavyweight title fight. If there is no replacement and Dos Santos simply goes back to sitting on the shelf, the UFC automatically misses out on that added revenue.
Even if Henderson hasn’t fought his way through the heavyweight division, his track record speaks for itself. He will certainly go down as one of the best of all-time and even at 41 years old, he is still one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet today.
Rather than let Henderson and Dos Santos sit on the shelf for months while they wait for a fight to open up, why not let them get in the cage against one another in a fight that everyone would love to see?
The UFC always claims that one of their biggest goals is to give the fans the fights they want to see. So, fans, let them hear it. Tell them you want to see Henderson move up and fight Dos Santos at UFC 146.
After all, what do they have to lose?
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