Larry Brown Sports

Ronda Rousey will be making her UFC debut at UFC 157 in February, and some people are not too thrilled about all the promotion she’s receiving. In fact, one of Dan Henderson’s coaches is upset with the situation.

Hendo, who was Strikeforce’s light heavyweight champion and a two-time champion in Pride, will be fighting Lyoto Machida at the Anaheim event. Their fight is being billed as the co-main event behind Rousey’s fight with Liz Carmouche. That’s not sitting well with Henderson’s striking coach Gus Pugliese.

“Ronda is headlining UFC 157. Here is why I have a problem with that,” Pugliese wrote on his Facebook page Monday. “Ronda is the champion of Strikeforce with 6 wins in less than 2 years of a mma professional career. That’s impressive regardless of who she has fought. However, she is not the UFC champion yet. She still has to win this fight to get that belt. On the other hand , we have Hendo, who has also been the Strikeforce champion (never lost the belt),Pride champion in 2 different weight classes; he has been ranked #1 contender for the UFC 205lbs, and #6 by many pound for pound best fighter. His resume is second to none, moreover, he is fighting a former champion, Lyoto Machida. Now why aren’t they main event? Is Ronda a better market value? I don’t know, but her fight could be quick as usual and we could be missing another historic 5 rds fight between 2 legends and possible hall of famers. I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve to headline an UFC event, but certainly not this one.”

At least Pugliese isn’t saying Rousey doesn’t deserve to headline an event, he just doesn’t think it should be ahead of Hendo. He further explained his view to Gracie Mag.

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Jon Jones has been crucified for his role in the cancellation of UFC 151, but he would like to remind you that he’s not the reason the fight was called off. Responding to a fan who tweeted him to complain that his Saturday evening plans were ruined, Jones made sure to blame Dan Henderson, whom he called an “old man.”

Thanks to the old man and his knee I don’t either “@aarondkuehn: Thanks to @jonnybones I have no plans tonight….”

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) September 1, 2012

Jones continues to show us that he just doesn’t get it. Nobody wants to hear him complain about an opponent suffering a knee injury while training, which, by the way, happens quite frequently. The problem is that Jones turned down a chance to face a replacement fighter.

The only person to blame for there not being a UFC 151 fight card on Sept. 1 is Jon Jones. Someone needs to remind him that.

Previously: Jon Jones asked Dana White to have Chael Sonnen stop harassing him
Previously: Jon Jones: I would take Chael Sonnen fight in a heartbeat

H/T Bloody Elbow

The main event between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua at UFC 139 in San Jose Saturday was one of the best MMA fights you will ever see. It doesn’t matter if the UFC on FOX was your intro to the sport, or if you have been a fan for years, this was a fight for the ages. If you missed the five round war that Henderson narrowly won, make sure you get to see it however you can.

I will warn you: if you’re uncomfortable with violence or are not a fan of good, competitive sport, it might not be for you.

This was two legends, two geniuses of combat, fighting with incredible heart and toughness, engaging in a back-and-forth, edge-of-your-seat performance that pushed each fighter beyond anything you can imagine. It was competitive all the way — I had Henderson winning three rounds to two, with one 10-8 round apiece.

Stylistically, the dangerous future Hall of Famer, Henderson, delivered significant punishment standing against the younger, more athletic Shogun. Hendo nearly finished the fight with his “H-Bomb” right hand in the third, before getting dominated in the fifth with brutal ground-and-pound from the mount. It’s hard to believe this fight could deliver such strong results when many pointed out beforehand it could have been a main event in PRIDE Fighting Championships five or six years ago.

Watching the fight live, I thought referee Josh Rosenthal could have stopped the fight in the third — we’re all glad he didn’t, in retrospect — but re-watching it, Shogun did defend himself intelligently despite the damage he took and letting the fight continue was the right call.

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The fight for which we’ve been waiting the past several months is finally taking place. Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko will square off Saturday at Sears Centre Arena outside Chicago in an M-1/Strikeforce card on Showtime. Fedor has lost two straight fights after winning 27 in a row. Hendo has won back-to-back fights as a light heavyweight and is stepping up in weight to face Fedor. He knows he’ll have his hands full.

“I am expecting a very dangerous Fedor in this fight,” Henderson wrote in a post on Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t buy that he is past his prime. I think people are reading too much into his losses against Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva.

“I watched both of those fights, and I believe I’d be wrong to think Fedor will not being at his best this Saturday. I think anybody who has his back to the wall coming off two losses is definitely more dangerous.”

Hendo says he feels like Fedor got cocky with his submission against Werdum. He thinks The Emperor was somewhat out of shape against Big Foot Silva, and acknowledges the weight difference was a factor.

Hendo also revealed some of his plans for the fight. He says he’ll use the clinch to control things and his wrestling to set up his monster right hand.

Like Henderson, I don’t believe Fedor is done. Emelianenko got caught by Werdum and was mismatched against Silva. Against someone his size like Hendo, I’m expecting a win. If he can’t get the victory, then it may be time to give it up.

After a month of discussing a potential Strikeforce fight between Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko, one was finally agreed to by both fighters. The bout will be in July, and according to MMA Weekly, it will be at 220 pounds. Getting the fighters to agree on a weight was the tough part, and if it is at 220 pounds, I have to ask the question: is that fair to Dan Henderson?

Whether it’s been in Pride, the UFC, or Strikeforce, Dan Henderson has always been down to fight any opponent. He’s competed at lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight classes, and he’s currently a highly-ranked light heavyweight and middleweight fighter. To give you an idea of his flexibility, he fought both Nogueira brothers in the span of less than three years even though one is a heavyweight and the other is a light heavyweight. Hendo’s management also seems unconcerned with the weight issue, saying since Henderson is challenging Fedor, it should be at Fedor’s preferred weight.

Still, even if Hendo is down like usual, this to me is more about Fedor. His loss to Big Foot Silva showed he was at a huge size and weight disadvantage and he was subsequently dominated. Even in a win against Hong Man Choi, Fedor was beat up pretty good by the 7-footer. He needs to fight opponents more his size, and Hendo is an undersized opponent. If he can’t beat Henderson at 220 pounds, which is an unfair weight for Dan, then he needs to retire. But even if Henderson is open to a fight at 220 pounds, that doesn’t seem to be fair. A fair fight should be somewhere in between where each man generally fights.

Fedor typically weighs in at 225-230 pounds for his fights. Henderson has been fighting at light heavyweight where the limit is 205 pounds. If anything seems fair, it would be a 215-pound limit that makes Fedor cut down more weight to make himself more even with Hendo. As it is, it seems like Hendo would be at too much of a disadvantage.

Dan Henderson beat Rafael Feijao on Saturday night in Columbus to win the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title. Fighting his third bout since leaving the UFC after a knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, Hendo put his incredible punching power on display, flattening Feijao with a devastating right hand a minute into the third round.

Though MMA has legends like Randy Couture who was still fighting at age 47, it’s mostly a younger man’s sport. That’s what makes Henderson’s knockout of Feijao so impressive — he hasn’t lost an ounce of punching power at age 40.

The same overhand right termed the “H-bomb” that made Feijao hit the canvas is the same one Henderson used to floor Bisping earning him Knockout of the Night. It’s also the same right hand that made Babalu Sobral’s head bobble on the ground in their December fight, and it proves that even though he may be susceptible to punches and takedowns himself, Henderson has a chance at a knockout in any fight.

The question is where he goes from here.

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