BURBANK, Calif. — Dan Henderson remains among the list of fighters who consider Jon Jones something a bit different than how he presents himself in public.
The 42-year-old former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion was making media rounds in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, promoting his upcoming UFC 161 main event bout against Rashad Evans, when he was asked if he’d rather fight Jon Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion, or cut back down to middleweight and get a rematch with Anderson Silva.
“I’d like to fight Jon Jones more than I’d like to fight Anderson Silva,” said Henderson. “Just because I have less respect for him as a person than Anderson. He’s not genuine. I think how he portrays himself is not how he really is. I think the fans have picked up on how he really is, as well.”
Henderson, of course, was scheduled to meet Jones last September in the main event of UFC 151 in Las Vegas. A Henderson knee injury, which caused him to drop out of the bout, kicked off a chain reaction of events which led to the cancelation of the fight card, the first in the UFC’s Zuffa era.
Asked to explain in what way he considers Jones to be less than authentic, Henderson feels the early stardom Jones enjoyed played a factor.
“A lot of it is probably because he’s young and he got catapulted into the public eye, and he’s trying to portray himself in a different way,” Henderson said. “But he should just be himself. “