At UFC 161 in Winnipeg, Dan Henderson and three other long-time light heavyweights will attempt to turn main-card bouts into one last title shot
Having just completed a tight three-round bout with Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson stood in the middle of the octagon with his opponent, each tethered to the referee by one hand. After learning the first judge scored the fight in his favour, Henderson raised his free arm in anticipation of more good news. It stayed up when the second card had Machida ahead, then collapsed as the ring announcer emphatically drew out the first syllable of “Lyoto.” As Henderson’s arm came down, so too did the 42-year-old’s immediate hopes for a title shot. Now, four months later, Henderson is part of a quartet of veteran light heavyweights fighting to maintain relevance at the top of their class.
The card for UFC 161, slated for June 15 in Winnipeg, is headlined by a bout between Henderson and Rashad Evans. It also features a light heavyweight fight between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and fellow Brazilian Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Henderson is the elder statesman of the group, but even the youngest—Rua—is already 31. Along with Machida and Alexander Gustafsson—neither of whom is competing in Winnipeg—all four fighters remain in the contender conversation in a division dominated by champion Jon “Bones” Jones. Given their respective ages and win-loss records, however, a defeat in Winnipeg might not just knock them to the mat, but off the light heavyweight map.
Avoiding that scenario for Henderson, an incredibly decorated athlete and the third-ranked contender behind Machida and Gustafsson, means besting the No. 6–ranked Evans. Henderson’s extensive and diverse fighting history dates back to appearances at the 1992 and ’96 Olympics as a Greco-Roman wrestler and includes winning Pride FC welterweight and middleweight titles in the mid-2000s, before, in 2011, claiming the Strikeforce light heavyweight crown. Last September, he was slated to fight Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title, but had to pull out with a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. That was part of a 15-month injury-induced layoff for Henderson, whose last bout before losing to Machida was an epic unanimous decision win over Rua in November 2011. Henderson said his knee and ankle injuries didn’t cause him pain during his confrontation with Machida, but did somewhat limit his mobility. The California boy—noted for a strict training regimen that keeps him competitive in this young man’s game—says he’s now operating at peak form, which is good news given all the challenges Evans presents. “He’s kind of unpredictable,” says Henderson. “Sometimes he uses his wrestling quite a bit, sometimes he doesn’t. He’s dangerous on his feet, he’s quick and he has power. It’s going to be one of those fights where it’s who can implement his game plan and stay offensive without getting stuck fighting the other guy’s fight.”
Should Evans, 33, find a way to top Henderson, it would be his first victory against any of the other three prominent light heavyweights scheduled to fight in Winnipeg, thus adding another layer to the already-confounding head-to-head history of these men. Evans has never faced Henderson or Rua, but lost to Nogueira in February. Nogueira has downed Henderson, but lost to Rua, who’s been bested by Henderson. It all adds up to a murky picture in which each of the combatants has a tremendous chance to enhance his odds of getting a title shot with the kind of emphatic victory that gets UFC boss Dana White’s attention. “It’s definitely a huge opportunity to get out from the pack and show you can compete with Jones,” says Evans, who lost to the champ in April 2012. “But it all depends how you win. The more impressive the win, the more impressive the case for you to be the guy. They want to see guys laying it out there. Getting by just winning isn’t enough anymore.”
A thunderous ending is always on the table with Henderson. The six-foot-one, 205-pounder has a striking ability few can match, which is why he boasts a 29-9-0 record with 13 victories coming by knockout or TKO. Because of that, Evans—and everybody else at the MTS Centre—will be keeping close watch on Henderson’s right hand. “He knows what he wins with and he knows not to get away from what he’s good at,”says Evans. “He’s surgical with that right and he can let it go from anywhere. It’s fast, powerful and effective. When he lets go, I better not be near its final destination.”
There’s also plenty of intrigue in the rematch scheduled between No. 7–ranked Rua and the 37-year-old Nogueira, ranked fifth. The two men will be facing each other eight years after “Shogun” earned a three-round unanimous decision over Nogueira. But Rua is coming off a loss to Gustafsson in December, while Nogueira’s last battle was his unanimous decision victory over Evans. “That’s got the potential to be a really good fight,” Henderson says. “They’re both tough guys, well-rounded, little different styles [Rua has a lot of knockouts, Nogueira submissions and decisions]. That’s a tough one to call. It depends on what kind of condition Shogun comes in.”
As for his own fight, a second consecutive loss at this stage in Henserson’s career would do serious damage to his stock, but he’s not about to build his confrontation with Evans into something more significant than any other trip into the octagon. “It’s not like I’m going to be trying to win that much more,” he says. “I’m already giving it my all.”
Still, with his 43rd birthday in August, time is a factor. Just don’t tell that to Henderson, who is rejuvenated by the fact he’s finally healthy. “I am getting a little older, but I know I’ve got a number of fights still left in me,” he says.
The ones he’s already fought over the years have earned him a lot of respect, including from his next opponent. “You see the guy, and he’s like five-foot-ten,” says Evans, “and he’s just putting in work, beating people you would have never thought he could beat.” And given the way he tends to win, another Henderson victory would be hard to ignore.
This story originally appeared in Sportsnet magazine. Subscribe here.
