Dan Henderson Asks Dana White For Lyoto Machida Rematch
The news that Lyoto Machida vs. Chris Weidman was to be moved from UFC 173 to 175 comes in the midst of a barrage of injury woes for the UFC; Cain Velasquez, Anthony Pettis, Anderson Silva, Dominick Cruz and now Weidman’s knee surgery have all helped put a damper on the mood surrounding the promotion lately.
Former Pride FC two-weight champion and Fight Night 38 victor Dan Henderson has offered some help to his employers, in the form of a challenge. Check out what ‘Dangerous’ had to say via Twitter:
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 stepped in against Jon Jones at UFC 140, but was unsuccessful after a strong first round for ‘The Dragon’ was put to bed with a submission win for ‘Bones’ in the second round. Hendo was unlucky to be bumped out of the title race at 205 pounds after that injury, but does he deserve to jump the queue at middleweight?
Admittedly the fight against Shogun, and subsequent TKO win was great for Henderson’s stock, but it was his first win in four outings and at a different weight from Machida. Also, one of Hendo’s recent three fight losing streak was to Machida at lhw.
‘The Dragon’ has strung together a first round knockout against Mark Munoz and a five round decision over Gegard Mousasi at 185 pounds; I highly doubt he’ll refuse the title match at 175 with Weidman in favour of a bout against an unranked middleweight whom he beat in 2013.
Could this be a sign that Henderson has already decided on a drop to middleweight? If so, would he be able to carry that savage knockout power down a weight class? It may be that dropping a division at this stage is the best thing for the aging veteran. I’ll keep you updated on this situation.
