When the UFC holds pre-fight conference calls ahead of its major pay-per-view events featuring the headlining opponents, naturally the two fighters won’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on everything.
But one thing all parties on Tuesday’s call ahead of next weekend’s UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson could agree on was that nobody should be overlooking Dan Henderson against the UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
That includes UFC president Dana White, who thinks it’s crazy that Henderson’s a 7-to-1 underdog for their Sept. 1 headliner in Las Vegas.
“Dan Henderson has been around forever and he’s knocked out a who’s who from (185 poungs) to heavyweight,” White said. “Many people know he’s a true threat.
“He’ll always take a fight no matter what weight class. He’s never been knocked out, he’s a great wrestler, he’s got knockout power in both hands. I don’t know how you can discount this guy. This guy can go. He went toe-to-toe with Quinton (Rampage) Jackson. The amount of disrespect by the media and fans for Dan Henderson is ridiculous.”
White said that for people who are just discounting the 41-year-old because of his age, they should look at another legend of the sport who was still fighting for UFC championships in his mid-forties — make that winning UFC championships.
“I was counting Randy Couture out at 37, look what he went on to do,” White said.
Henderson meanwhile also said that age is less of a factor than the matchup itself.
“I think everyone has been painting the picture of the old guy against the young guy who’s tearing people up,” Henderson said. “I think it’s more of two different styles against each other, more of a chess match. Jon Jones is a tougher fighter to figure out than most guys. He uses his body style real well with his fighting style. That’s a fun challenge to try to figure that out.
“I think it’s more that than my age. My conditioning in training camp went perfect. I’m feeling great.”
He admitted that there have been fights in the past where his cardio could have been a little better. For example, in his last fight against Mauricio (Shogun) Rua last November. Despite being one of the most epic fights of 2011, Henderson was already tiring less than halfway through the five-round battle, in which he ended up holding on to win by unanimous decision.
But Henderson said that it can often be attributed to the pace of the fight and is not an indication of the shape that he’s in.
“I’m not worried about it in this fight,” Henderson said.
Jones agreed that he cannot look past Henderson, which is something he had been doing and regrets it.
“He’s a monster, he’s a warrior,” said Jones, who added he was done with any more “after Dan” talk. “I’m just going to focus totally on him from here on.”
While Jones has made some comments about his opponent’s age, calling Henderson an “older version of Rashad Evans” and saying he didn’t think he could go a full five rounds, he admitted that it won’t be a factor when it comes to the dangers that Henderson presents.
“This (fight) is high risk, high reward,” Jones said. “He had the Pride belt, he was the Strikeforce champion and he left both of those organizations on top. I don’t take his age into consideration at all. (A win) would be as big as any of my wins in 2011.
“He beat Fedor (Emelianenko), who was one of my idols. To have Dan Henderson in my win column means the world to me.”
MORE QUOTES:
White on whether a win would cement Henderson’s possible entry to the UFC Hall of Fame: “Whether he wins or loses, he’s a Hall of Famer.” …
Henderson on the “older version of Rashad Evans” comment made by Jones: “I’m probably an older version to a lot of people.” …
Jones on whether he thinks he could match up with the Greco-Roman wrestling of the former Olympian Henderson: “I’ve studied Mauricio (Shogun) Rua a thousand times. He’s not a wrestler but he took Henderson down with ease.”
