One of the big questions heading into Sunday’s UFC Fight Night main event was if legendary light heavyweight Dan Henderson could turn things around?
Entering his rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the 43-year-old former Pride and Strikeforce champion had lost three straight for the first time in his career, with the most recent of those setbacks being a violent first-round knockout loss to Vitor Belfort.
Despite earning his 30th career win after catching Rua with a thunderous right hook early in the third round, a lot of those same questions remain.
While Henderson halted his three-fight slide, everything was going against him up until the moment he caught “Shogun” clean with a stiff right hand. He was dropped and nearly finished as time ran out in the first, and felled by a massive uppercut in the second. Even the opportunity to land the fight-changing salvo came out of a failed takedown attempt where Rua easily denied the former Olympic wrestler.
Henderson has said that he intends to complete the six-fight deal he signed when this bout was announced, but that remains to be seen. He looked like a fighter clinging to a career in the cage during the first two rounds and with the almost unilateral ban on TRT hitting the sport, the aging California native now faces the reality of forging ahead without the synthetic goodness he’s been allowed to use for quite some time.
Since there is very little chance that the man who has fought professionally for more than 15 years simply decides to hang up his four-ounce gloves and saunter off into the sunset, it’s time to figure out where Henderson goes from here.
Coming off a rematch, the safest “best use of resources” decision would be to line him up in another do-over, pairing him this time with oft-injured Brazilian Antonio Rogerio Noguiera.
“Lil Nog” submitted Henderson back in their Pride days, and the pairing could easily be slotted as the main event of a future fight card in Brazil. Neither man is legitimately in the title discussion—despite both holding down spots in the divisional top 10—but both are still big names. Things are stacked up in the light heavyweight division at the moment, with several fighters queuing up for title shots, so why not keep these two veterans in the rotation but out of the mix by slotting them opposite one another?
Here’s a look at the matches I would make for the rest of Sunday’s winners … and Shogun.
Shogun Rua vs. Anthony Johnson-Phil Davis loser
Rua got caught. Up until that point he was dominating the fight, and while he’s never going to be the same guy who ran the table in the Pride Grand Prix or even the guy who blitzed Lyoto Machida, he’s still a solid name in a division that is lacking new talent at the moment.
Whoever comes away from the UFC 172 co-main event with a loss feels like a solid future dance partner for Shogun. The bout would still have divisional implications and could potentially headline a televised event or main card a stacked show, and the subsequent winner gets right back into the title chase.
C.B. Dollaway vs. Luke Rockhold-Tim Boetsch winner
Dollaway showed continued development with his hands on Sunday, stopping Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in less than a minute to climb to the edge of contention in the middleweight division.
Going forward, a matchup with the winner of the upcoming Rockhold-Boetsch bout would be a good fit. If Rockhold emerges, it’s a fresh pairing between two fighters angling for a place as potential title challengers, and if Boetsch wins, it’s a chance to resolve the lingering questions about their first matchup, which “The Barbarian” won by questionable split decision.
Leo Santos vs. Anthony Njokuani-Vinc Pichel winner
Norman Parke vs. James Krause-Jamie Varner winner
Santos and Parke fought to a majority draw after the latter was hit with a shaky point deduction in the second round. While neither moves forward as a result, they don’t move back either.
My guess is that they each get placed into tougher matchups than they’ve faced yet, Santos continuing to fight in his native Brazil, and Parke dropped in with someone who can push the pace and challenge him with a diverse offensive attack.
Fabio Maldonado vs. Ilir Latifi
Maldonado does a great job surviving until his opponents are starting to tire and then beats the breaks off them with stiff boxing. It’s fun to watch, except if you’re a fan of the guy on the receiving end.
Latifi earned a submission win over Cyrille Diabate earlier this month, and the hulking Swedish wrestler has the right kind of style to potentially shut down “The Brazilian Zombie” and earn another solid UFC win.
Michel Prazeres vs. As Yet Unsigned Lightweight
Prazeres dominated Mairbek Taisumov, but there was nothing about the contest that should prompt the UFC to move the Brazilian out of the comfort zone he’s enjoying right now. Keep him on fight cards in his home country and use him as a measuring stick for incoming new talent. In a division filled with solid wrestlers, Prazeres is a good opening test for arriving hopefuls.
Rony Jason vs. Nik Lentz-Manny Gamburyan winner
As much as the stoppage seemed quick, Jason emerged from Sunday with a victory and needs a step up in competition next time out.
The winner of the upcoming Lentz vs. Gamburyan bout feels like a good fit. Either way, Jason gets paired with a quality grinder with solid hands and a little more experience under their belt. Gamburyan fought for the featherweight title way back when, and Lentz is a top- 10 talent in the weight class.
This is the kind of solid pairing that I expect to see holding down a co-main event slot on a future Brazilian fight card and the type of bout an emerging regional star like Jason needs at this point in his career.