By all intents and purposes, Dan Henderson is by no means looking past his UFC 151 encounter with current 205-pound king Jon Jones, but the thought of a potential throwdown with Lyoto Machida is a mouth-watering prospect that looms ever so large at the back of his mind. (Via Fiveouncesofpain.com), Henderson told “FUEL TV”:
He’s a guy that I’ve always watched over the years. He’s gotten to grow on me a little bit. Early on he was pretty boring, never engaged and just waited and waited and waited and waited until it was time to catch a guy with one punch. It’s also a guy that would be fun to figure out. It’s a different type of guy with a different style that you usually don’t find. Those fights change it up for me and make it a little funner. He’s a guy you got to stay in his face.
UFC on FOX 4 saw “The Dragon” elevate himself into title contention once more following his second-round knockout of Ryan Bader. As things stand, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Machida’s third shot at UFC gold is etched in stone.
Prior to the aforementioned bout, UFC President Dana White had confirmed that the most impressive victor between headline acts Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon Vera and co-main eventers Machida and Bader would be given the next title tilt.
Although Rua won his match via fourth-round technical knockout, the spoils went to Machida.
Heading into his match with Bader, the Brazilian denizen had amassed one win in his last four outings, and even worse was the fact that he’d lost his last fight. So for Machida, his win must’ve been a godsend.
As referenced to earlier, Henderson isn’t counting his chickens, as he’s well aware of the task that lies ahead regarding “Bones” Jones.
It’s definitely a big fight, but my last few have been big. My conditioning feels great and obviously tactically in this one as it’s a little different because he’s a little longer and my game plan changes with each opponent. I’ve got a couple of real long, tall guys to train with, so I feel good now.
Come fight night, if “Hendo” is triumphant, he’ll add the UFC light heavyweight crown to his other trio of titles which include the Strikeforce 205-pound belt, PRIDE middleweight and welterweight titles.
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