Hendo Aims To Grow MMA Legacy With Upset Win At UFC 173

By Adam Martin

Dan Henderson is already considered one of the best fighters in mixed martial arts history, and this weekend he will get the opportunity to strengthen his already-legendary resume when he takes on Daniel Cormier in a light heavyweight title eliminator that will serve as co-main event of UFC 173.

Now 43 years old, “Hendo” snapped his nasty three-fight losing streak to Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans, and Lyoto Machida when he finished off Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in brutal fashion with his trademark right hand this past March at UFC Fight Night 38. It was one of the best comebacks in UFC history, and the win was enough to land him this title eliminator against the undefeated “DC.”

Although Henderson suffered two knockdowns against “Shogun” just two months ago and was hoping to fight next in the summer, the lure of a potential title shot was too good an opportunity for “Dangerous Dan” to pass up, and voila, the fight against Cormier was born. And now the UFC has a great co-main event to promote alongside the headliner of Renan Barao vs. TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title.

The reason Henderson is so interested in a title fight – and the reason he came back so quickly after the fight with Shogun instead of taking time off to recover — is that the UFC belt is the only major title he’s never won in the sport of MMA. Henderson has made capturing UFC gold the final goal of his career, and beating DC gets him a title shot. He’s had two shots at it before, losing to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 75 and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 82, but he lost out on his third shot when UFC 151 was cancelled due to a Henderson knee injury.

That was nearly two years ago, but Hendo – despite the three-fight losing streak – never gave up, and after smashing Shogun’s nose to re-affirm himself as a top light heavyweight fighter, he now has the opportunity to take on Cormier and snap the Olympian’s 14-fight winning streak and jump into the next contender’s spot behind Alexander Gustafsson, who gets his rematch against Jones later this year.

The odds for this fight are firmly in the favor of Cormier, as the former Strikeforce Grand Prix champion is a -900 betting favorite heading into the weekend. The comeback on Henderson, the former PRIDE middleweight and welterweight champion and the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, is +600. This is unchartered territory for Henderson, who has never been more than a +255 underdog in his career, and that was when he took on Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce. In my opinion, the line is too high on Cormier, as the betting public is counting Henderson out of the fight, which I believe is a mistake.

The thing about Henderson is that, even when he’s down and out, he has a great ability to recover from taking big shots. And he has a right hand from hell that can knock any man that steps into the cage with him out with a single blow. Henderson’s legacy in the sport is already undeniable, and he already has an amazing highlight reel of finishes, so a knockout win over Cormier this weekend at UFC 173 would only add to it. But it’s what comes along with the win – a title shot – that is what Henderson’s really after, because winning a UFC title would likely push Henderson into the role of greatest in MMA history.

He’s 43, but if Henderson could hypothetically defeat Cormier, who is undefeated, and then take out Jones, who is essentially also undefeated, and win the UFC light heavyweight title, I would have no problem saying he is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. And I’m sure that’s something Henderson’s aiming to hear. But first, he has to take out DC this weekend in Las Vegas, in what should be a fantastic co-main event at UFC 173.