Dan Henderson: Heir to the Throne? | UFC NEWS
By Adam Conklin:
Just minutes after Jon Jones defeated Rashad Evans to retain his light heavyweight belt, 41-year old Dan Henderson was announced as the next person to challenge the 24-year old phenom for his title. Henderson (29-8) will be coming off his latest victory and fight of the year performance against Mauricio Rua back in November with plenty of momentum behind him after winning the Strikeforce title and knocking out Fedor Emelianenko before he rejoined the UFC ranks. But is this MMA veteran the kryptonite to Jon’s superhuman title reign?
First, lets take a look at what Hendo has to offer. He is an olympic wrestler with incredible strength and indelible will who will no doubt push the pace against Jones. Whether or not he can take Jones down is one thing, but I wouldn’t put it past Hendo to find the willpower and strength to take Jones down sometime in the fight.
Next, he has an incredible chin spanning over ten years of MMA competition. He showed off his granite skull against Rua who battered Hendo (and was battered himself), as he stalked Rua earning a unanimous decision win. When fighting Jones, I highly doubt that Jones will be able to finish Dan with punches as Henderson never really seems to be out of a fight.
Lastly, his right hand. Everyone knows its there, no one can stop it. Jon Jones will surely train for it but whether or not he can stop it is another story entirely. Even though Jones has the reach advantage like he does in all his fights, Hendo always seems to find a way to sneak it in their with devastating effect.
Whether he deserves this title shot or not, there really isn’t another worthy competitor right now in the division besides Alexander Gustafsson who still needs a real test in the division before he can be considered a top contender. Henderson has been here before and will know what to do against Jones. This might not lead to a win but it will surely lead to another classic Hendo fight.
If Hendo is to lose, then a decision can probably be blamed on the reach disadvantage while a submission would almost be expected as his ultimate demise. He will not stop fighting which will make either himself, or Jones susceptible to getting finished, and his submission defense is great, but not against the likes of the Nogueiras and Anderson Silva who are at the highest levels of the jiu-jitsu game. A level that Jones is either at or will be come fight night.
This is a dangerous fight for Hendo to take especially if he wants to keep his win streak alive. However, at 41 he has nothing to lose and because he’s fighting for a title that he has sought after his whole career, he will not go lightly into defeat.
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If Hendo can some how break the reach advantage then he might be able to k.o Jones…Jones has been hit by machida and evans , evans caught him for sure clean with the over hand but if are going to compare right hands its hard to compare evans to hendos for obvious reasons , hendo is alot slower then rashad so you half to factor in that but that thing that i like about his chance is if he can get inside i trully belive he can put him away…yes this is a great feat but its not impossible…..itll be a good challenge for sure my prediction if hendo can get inside hendo via tko or possibly k,o if it goes to the ground i think jon will submit him
Feel the exact same way. He did win that round against Anderson Silva by getting inside, etc. But Silva’s reach is 77 inches while Jones’ is 84 I believe, so we’ll see if Hendo can get in and pull off the epic win. I’m def betting a bit on him if the lines stay how they are now.
The good thing about this fight is Hendo always seems to win when everyone counts him out thats why he’ll go down as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Jones will win very easy!
You are right. After only 4-5 years of training Jones will be on the very same level as Little Nog and Anderson when it comes to BJJ.
The guy who wrote this article should retire from journalism, it’s terrible.
It’s weird the article seems to think hendo will try and take jones down. I haven’t seen hendo shoot in years. He stands and bangs and if you are going to write an article about him you should probably know that. Jones is more likely to take hendo down, not the other way round
Good fight. Be interesting to see how Henson handles the reach
Hendo will get inside and H BOMB Jones into oblivion, mark my words. Hendo is not scared to take a hit and get inside. Jones got pillow hands he don’t have one hitter quitters. If Rampage couldn’t KO Hendo with clean flush shots to the dome and chin multiple times, I don’t see Jones coming close. Only way is if he submits Hendo, other wise it’s lights out!
this looks like jones wrap up at the light heavy division but Hendo has a punchers chance and if anyone can land that one shot it’s him but it has to come by the end of round 2 if he can deal with jones offense
Jones will Choke him out
Jones is good but I hope hendo can beat him just so he can get the only belt he hasn’t won. Jones can come back and have a bright future and be one of UFCs biggest superstars but it would great for hendo to go out on top he only has a few great fights left in him he is a legend that should leave the sport a champion.
Well said
Jones jiu jitsu is nowhere near the level of the nogueiras or silva. does he even have his purple belt?
Because it was the same level as Machida’s when he standing guillotined him, and the same as Rampage’s when he RNC’d him. Right?
Any moron can learn to choke especially with those freakishly long arms… To think anyone can learn all of the intrcacies that it takes to be a high level black belt in bjj in that short amount of time is complete nonsense… I’d love to see Jones in a Gi with Machida
Because I said Jon Jones has learned all the intricacies of a high level BJJ black belt?No…… all I did was state that his BJJ skills were not on the same level as those 2 fighters and he finished them.Comprehension skills at their finest.
Quick!!! Someone come say that is was Jones’ “freakish body frame” not his skill set that won him the belt and his defenses!!!!
It was. His technique isn’t very good. Rashad would out box him whenever he went on the inside, the only problem was he stopped going inside after the second round i think. jones was doing nothing to keep him away. rashad just stayed there. my main problem with jones though is how he kicks knees in. thats really shitty.
Yes, yes, how dare a man with a long reach advantage use a legal kick in an MMA fight, he must be stopped for his outrageous antics!
it’s a combination of both you idiot.
Jones’ submission skills are no where close to The Nogs or Silvas’. Anything can happen though, it’s MMA.
That was my only issue with the article.
The thing about Jones is that if his hands aren’t good enough to keep you on the outside, he’ll do that ****ing side kick to the thigh to keep you away. I want Hendo to get inside and knock him out brutally, I do. But I see this fight playing out as Jones using his jab and that side kick to the thigh to keep Hendo away and either eek out a decision or wind up catching Hendo in a sub. I TRULY want Dan Henderson to win, but I don’t he will.
What is it with these ridiculous articles today? First the Wanderlei junk and now this?
Dan’s not going to the ground. It’s the big right hand for him, all the way. People have to be joking thinking Jones has killer jiu jitsu. He wore down Rampage to exhaustion and just completely overpowered and surprised with his long arms a dazed Machida. He is a powerful wrestler and he uses the wrestling to put himself in position for the submission. When I first started training, I’d tap guys who’d been there a year just because I was that much stronger and bigger… but they had a much better skillset than I did. I still suck, but BJ Penn isn’t going to submit Ben Rothwell.
I know Jones is on his way to being the best LHW ever, but I’d like to see Henderson shove a piece of humble pie in this guy’s face. He’s just too artogant and quietly disrespectful.
Its more of a sarcastic thought. He has improved with each fight and he submitted Machida and threw a flying triangle on Rampage. Just saying he has technique and isn’t afraid to try risky moves. As for the Wanderlei article, I never root for the opposing team. WARWAND!
ok someone say tht Jones got pillow hands let him hit you once then comment and Jones letal wepon is the sharp elbows if u follow mma to make dumb comment you better off this sport
u can’t spell for shit bro lmao or make sense dip shit
Not all the people on here use English as their first language. And you’re one to talk, you might want to brush up on your grammar skills as well.
Hollywood is just going to hunt. He’ll follow boner around until he tries to move in with his gay elbow techniques and try to blast him. It might take a few rounds, but, he’ll find the button. A hunting he will go, hiho the Danny-o, a hunting he will go…hey! I ****in hope he gets that ****in knob gobbler!!!
Easy fight for jones
He will never take my belt. I have proved that I am the best.
Hendo will beat him no doubt about it ;D
This article is food for thought. Hendo has the wrestling he just hasn’t had to use it because he can get inside. If we have a fight that goes into the championship rounds, and Hendo can tag Jones, I wouldn’t put it past him to try a takedown. Hendo continues to surprise even in his 40′s.