Dan Henderson picked up a huge win this past Saturday, knocking out legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. With his contract ending with Strikeforce, and having picked up three solid wins in a row, it’s no shock that the talk of a Hendo return to the UFC has picked up.
Rashad Evans was supposed to be fighting for the UFC light heavyweight championship this weekend against Jon Jones, but an injury forced Jones off the card followed by Phil Davis pulling out with injury leading to a rematch with Tito Ortiz. A win should move Evans into position to fight the winner of the Jones/Quinton Jackson fight for the UFC title. So, would Evans have any interest in fighting Henderson in some sort of fight with Dan in the future (assuming he regains the 205 pound strap)? He tells a recent ESPN.com chat that he’d love it (HT: MMA Mania):
I’m a big Hendo fan. I picked him [against Fedor] even though I didn’t think he was really going to win, but it was a pleasant surprise. I would love to fight him. He’s getting better and better — not so much learning new techniques, but having a stronger competitive mentality.
For his part, Henderson said that he’d be interested in an eventual “unification bout” when talking to The Telegraph (HT: MMA Nation):
I think [a unification fight] could be interesting going forward…. I’m the Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion, I’ve beaten Fedor, and I’m unemployed, so we’ll have to see what the talks are now after I’ve had a few weeks off. It’s not a bad position to be in though.
It certainly would be an interesting fight with Henderson’s one punch power against the speed and timing of Evans. Even better is the fact that it is only one of many exciting possibilities for the Strikeforce champ should he move to the greener pastures of the UFC.
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