It has only been a day since Jon Jones successfully defended his light heavyweight championship against Rashad Evans at UFC 145, and yet we already know the next challenger.
UFC president Dana White wasted no time, announcing shortly after the event that it would be Dan Henderson who will earn the next shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship, as the MMA legend will do battle with “Bones” later this year.
Without hesitation, many fans have already done what they did with Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans before, predicting that this time, Jones is really going to be challenged. Certainly the Vegas odds will be in Jones’ favor for the fight, but that doesn’t mean it’ll come easily.
As many have pointed out, Dan Henderson lives up to his nickname, as he could be the most “dangerous” opponent that Jones has ever faced. It’s that reality which makes this fight so interesting. Jones is going to have to change up his fighting style or risk dropping his title against a 41-year-old man who many wrote off as being over-the-hill over four years ago when he was submitted by Anderson Silva in their UFC 82 bout for the middleweight title.
Henderson is known for his world-class wrestling, but in a sport where wrestling has seemingly taken control, Henderson has defied the odds as his tremendous punching power has been the key to the majority of his recent wins.
It’s this punching power which is likely Jones’ biggest threat going into the fight. While Lyoto Machida, Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans all possess knockout power, none come close to the lights-out, one-punch power that Henderson packs in his right hand.
Jones’ UFC 145 performance against Evans was excellent, but it did expose flaws in his game, as he was seemingly staggered several times in the contest by Evans despite rarely being hit with a clean shot. Needless to say, if Jones doesn’t play things more cautiously and the “H-bomb” connects with his jaw, we could see a recreation of the infamous Michael Bisping knockout.
The truth, though, is that while Jones does have to be weary of Henderson’s knockout power, he is otherwise fighting a guy who should be, in theory, tailor-made to make him look good.
At just 5’11”, Henderson’s is a natural middleweight, where he spent much of his career being one of the top fighters in the world. It’s not that he hasn’t been successful in the light heavyweight division—he has—it’s that his frame is not suited to fight a guy like Jon Jones, who could arguably compete as a high-level heavyweight in the UFC.
Jones will go into the bout with an incredible 13.5″ reach advantage. Not only that, but if Henderson struggled with his conditioning against Shogun Rua, just imagine what Jones’ incredible speed and endurance would do in the championship rounds versus Hendo.
If he can avoid being caught by the right hand of Henderson, Jon Jones should walk through him like a bulldozer. But that’s easier said than done.
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