Dan Henderson, a successful collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler, began his professional mixed martial arts career in 1997. Since that time he has garnered many accolades and claimed multiple titles, save one—a UFC championship belt.
On September 1, Henderson will look to change that when he faces current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the main event at UFC 151.
Henderson has been sitting in the wings, waiting for his shot at UFC gold since he defeated Mauricio Rua by unanimous decision at UFC 139 in November. Knowing that he would face the victor of the UFC 145 contest between Jones and former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, Henderson undoubtedly watched that fight with a great deal of interest.
For Henderson, the key takeaway from the Jones versus Evans fight seems to have been the same thing that many people have been saying lately—that Evans lost the fight more than Jones won it. In other words, Evans fought Jones’ fight and not his own, as Henderson told MMAInterviews.tv:
The most surprising thing was what Rashad Evans didn’t do, not what Jon Jones did do. It was more about what Rashad didn’t attempt. In the first round he kind of mixed it up a little but, but he still didn’t get offensive with his wrestling at all, didn’t try to set it up, didn’t try and control the fight with his wrestling. He’s got a really good wrestling base that he didn’t try and utilize. With Jones trying to hit you in the face so much, there were definitely some opening where he could have capitalized, but Rashad didn’t really try to. That’s what surprised me the most, that Rashad just fought Jon Jones’ fight.
From those words it seems as if Henderson will do everything he can to fight his fight and avoid, in the words of Quinton Jackson after his loss to Jones, becoming “mesmerized” by the young champion.
The question is, with his ever evolving game and the time he has to train for Henderson, will the openings that Henderson saw in the Evans fight be there or will they be eradicated and replaced by another new tactic that will overwhelm the veteran fighter?
The book on Jones is written in pencil, erased and rewritten after each title defense. At 24, with only four years of professional fighting under his belt, Jones is still a work in progress, which is a very scary prospect for any fighter, even one as accomplished and experienced as Henderson.
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