It appears as though Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida is headed to UFC 157.
According to sources close to the event, both Machida and Henderson have verbally agreed to meet on the Feb. 23 card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. No contracts have been signed just yet, though. Tatame.com first reported the news earlier this week.
The fight isn’t expected to serve as the main event. UFC president Dana White told MMAFighting.com on Tuesday that he was “working on” that card’s headlining act.
The 42-year-old Henderson (29-8) hasn’t fought since he defeated Mauricio Rua last November in what many consider to be one of the greatest fights in UFC history. He was scheduled to fight Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title at the ill-fated UFC 151 card, but he pulled out of the fight to due a knee injury.
Machida (18-3) most recently knocked out Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 4 in August. That victory was supposed to have earned him a title shot, however, after he turned down two short notice fights against Jon Jones, the UFC decided to make him fight another contender instead.
UFC 157 will mark the promotion’s return to Anaheim for the first time since UFC on FOX 1 last year.