Former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson showed his one-shot knockout power and iron chin are still very much intact after a vicious knockout win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC Fight Night 38 on Sunday.
The 43-year-old fan favorite is still eyeing a UFC championship before he calls it a career, per Fox Sports, so it should come as no surprise that he’s willing to have a quick turnaround and rematch Lyoto Machida at UFC 173.
Hey @danawhite, let me have @lyotomachidafw, just like you let him have @jonnybones when I got hurt @ufc
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) March 25, 2014
Machida was set to challenge Chris Weidman at this year’s annual Memorial Day weekend pay-per-view event, but “The All-American” withdrew from the bout yesterday due to a knee injury that will require minor surgery, per UFC.com.
While the UFC also noted that the 185-pound title bout will be moved to their Fourth of July weekend event, UFC 175, “Hendo” obviously has other plans.
Henderson was set to challenge UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for his title at UFC 151 in September 2012, but the event was ultimately canceled after the Team Quest co-founder withdrew due to a knee injury just eight days prior to the card.
As the release stated, “The Dragon” was offered the opportunity to fight Jones at UFC 152, but he declined the short-notice matchup and was replaced by Vitor Belfort.
Coincidentally, Machida was replacing “The Phenom” in his scheduled championship bout with Weidman due to the backlash of testosterone replacement therapy being banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Machida defeated Henderson by split decision, his last win at light heavyweight, at UFC 157 last February in a mostly tepid affair that was generally panned by critics.
Would the fans prefer to wait until July to see Weidman vs. Machida or would Henderson vs. Machida II in May sound like a better option, especially since Weidman could feasibly meet Belfort at UFC 175?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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