Whether or not you think Shogun & Hendo put on the greatest fight in MMA history at UFC 139, the UFC will spend millions of dollars convincing you that it was in every upcoming marketing campaign for these two fighters as long as they continue to compete in MMA. The more you resist believing it, the more it’s going to cost the Zuffa to persuade you that it was. It’s really no different than McDonalds trying to convince you that their “Chicken McNuggets” are actually made of chicken. At first you’ll be skeptical, but eventually you’ll just accept it (even though it isn’t real chicken). I’ve accepted it, and discovered that no matter how fake it is, processed foods are a modern day necessity to maintain the balance between supply and demand in America. Zeus and I have actually had late night existential conversations about this philosophy, and I’m convinced he’s right about any topic he wants to be right about… Including that Dan Henderson should never fight Shogun again because there was magic made that night, and it can never be duplicated. I kicked and screamed for weeks, but he’s ultimately right (again).
Dan Henderson has had a pretty incredible 2011. First, he snatched the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt by knocking out Feijao, he then defeated Fedor by 1st round TKO, and just put on the fight of the year against Mauricio Shogun Rua. However you scored the fight at UFC 139, it’s hard to call anyone a loser in that fight; but according to the CSAC judges: Dan Henderson earned the win and became is the first fighter to ever become a stand-by #1 contender for either the middleweight or light heavyweight championship. Following UFC on FOX 2, both the 205lb & 185lb title shots were promised to Rashad Evans & Chael Sonnen (respectively) and the Joe Silva has offered Dan Henderson a fight with Lil’ Nog in the meantime; a fight that Dan Henderson has [b]declined[/b] in the interest of waiting for his title shot. His response to turning down the fight was simply that he didn’t think a fight with Nogueira would be “interesting for the fans”. According to Dana White “Dan Henderson’s in a position right now where it looks like he wants to wait for Jon Jones” and it appears the UFC will honor the next light heavyweight title shot to Hendo following April’s grudge match between Rashad Evans and Jon Jones.
We’re sorry there’s no corresponding video or photos in this article. We know you like colorful images and less text. We hope this consolation video compilation of Dan Henderson’s body of work stemming back from PRIDE will suffice. [Source]
