UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was not far removed from his UFC 145 victory over Rashad Evans when he was notified that the next former champion he would defend his title against would be Dan Henderson. Today, UFC president Dana White tweeted that Jones versus Henderson will take place on September 1, headlining UFC 151 in Las Vegas.
Jones has cut a path of destruction through the UFC’s light heavyweight division since joining the organization in August 2008. In less than four years, he has compiled a UFC record of 10-1.
Since wresting the title from the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March of last year, he has fought and defeated three former UFC champions: Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and, most recently, Evans. As far as the only loss on his record, that came via disqualification for delivering 12-to-6 elbows to Matt Hamill.
The run that Jones has gone on has many predicting that by the time the 24-year-old fighter retires, he will go down as one of the greatest combatants in UFC history. In a sport that has seen its share of hyperbolic statements in the past, some would say that those proclamations should be taken with a grain of salt, but with what Jones has accomplished in such a short time, it’s easy to believe that he will indeed carve his name in the UFC history books.
His opponent in September, despite his advancing age, is no slouch. The 41-year-old Henderson is currently riding a four-fight winning streak and has gone 7-1 in his last eight bouts. His last fight, a five-round slugfest with Maurcio Rua, was undoubtedly the best fight of 2011 and quite possibly one of the best fights in UFC history. Since that November 19 bout, Henderson has sat on the sidelines, bidding his time, waiting for his turn at a title shot in the 205-pound division.
Henderson has held titles in PRIDE and Strikeforce but never in the UFC. He’ll have his work cut out for him in the pursuit of UFC gold when he faces the juggernaut that is Jon Jones at UFC 151.
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