UFC 204: Why It’s Okay Dan Henderson Gets the Title Shot

At UFC 204, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping are going to face off in a rematch that’s been seven years in the making. Except this time, the middleweight title is on the line. There’s been some controversy about this matchmaking. Dan Henderson is still currently ranked at No. 13 in the middleweight division. Meanwhile, other deserving contenders such as Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and heck, even Robert Whittaker, have been passed over to receive this shot. But this is the fight that was made. I’m here to tell you why it’s a good thing.

The middleweight division was already basically turned on its head when Michael Bisping won the belt. After an incredibly dominant run toward the title, which included a win over Bisping, Luke Rockhold became champion, and it didn’t look like he was going to part with the belt anytime soon. Some even bemoaned the fact that he was booked into an immediate title rematch with former champion Chris Weidman, especially considering how the fight ended. The finish of that fight was only controversial only because many people thought the referee took way too long to stop the beating Rockhold was dishing out to Weidman. Instead, Weidman got injured, and Bisping got the shot to replace him on less than three week’s notice. The fact of the matter of this. In the minds of just about everyone, Bisping wasn’t supposed to beat Rockhold. But this is MMA, and the finishes aren’t pre-determined. Some betting lines had him as high at +540. However, time and time again, MMA shows that this is a sport where underdogs can win and defy all logic and belief. That’s exactly what Bisping did. It didn’t break the division but it likely shattered any long-term plans you could’ve made.

When you look at the top of the middleweight division, you have former champions Rockhold and Weidman. Rockhold just lost the title by getting knocked out. Weidman lost the belt to Rockhold late last year, and he hasn’t fought since that time. Currently, he has a fight scheduled against No. 4-ranked Yoel Romero at UFC 205. Weidman should be happy because he’s fighting on one of the biggest UFC cards of all time in his home state at UFC’s first-ever New York card at Madison Square Garden. Considering what happened with Yoel Romero and his USADA test failure after his fight with Jacare, this match-up makes sense right now. Weidman can fight to prove he’s still a top contender over Olympic medalist in wrestling, who is ranked in the top 5. Rockhold and Jacare are currently scheduled to fight at UFC’s card in Melbourne in November. This is a rematch from their title bout in Strikeforce, which Rockhold won. It was a close fight, but some could argue that Jacare won the fight on the score cards. Regardless, it’s a decent fight for Rockhold after that surprising loss to Bisping. Jacare is the only guy I think who is getting overlooked here. But then, I think Jacare should’ve gotten the title shot a long time ahead of Rockhold. However, Rockhold was the more outspoken contender, and Jacare failed to go into business for himself. Like it or not, that’s part of the business. It’s not a new thing either. It’s been a part of the business for over a decade now. Basically, the middleweight division is in a bit of chaos right now that was caused by Bisping. The next couple of months should sort out this issue, and the new contenders for the belt will emerge.

But going back to Dan Henderson, the fight with Bisping makes sense because there is history there. Going back to UFC 100, which happened over seven years ago, that was one of the highlight grudge matches for the card. Bisping made a ton of mistakes and circled right into Henderson’s right hand. The finish is still one of the most epic finishes of all time. The feud was so epic, it produced fantastic videos such as “Bisping’s Island” (See Below):

For Bisping, this was one of the most embarrassing and humiliating moments of his career. He’s wanted to run this one back for a long time. Now he’s able to do it in his home country this weekend in Manchester. This is a grudge rematch. However, now the title’s on the line. But that’s not even the end of the storyline. Dan Henderson has made it clear he plans to retire after this fight win, lose or draw. Now granted, an MMA fighter “retiring” means about as much as a campaign promise from a politician, this could potentially cap off one of the greatest careers the sport has ever seen.

Ever since the first Bisping fight, a UFC title fight has eluded Henderson for a while. Winning the fight with Bisping was supposed to determine the next middleweight contender. Granted, the hope was apparently for Bisping to win to match up with Anderson Silva, possibly even in England. Instead, Hendo knocked him out. Henderson ended up leaving the UFC for Strikeforce, where he won the light heavyweight title and knocked out the world’s greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, at heavyweight mind you. Hendo ultimately returned to the UFC and fought Maurio “Shogun” Rua in the greatest UFC fight in history. It was five-rounds of insane action, and Hendo won. With that, Hendo became the top contender at light heavyweight. Unfortunately, he got injured and was forced to withdraw at the last second for UFC 151; a fight card that never got rescheduled and remains a phantom event to this day.

Now this might sound irrational. However, I see this bout as a reward to a living legend who has given it all for this sport. Undoubtedly, when he hangs it up, Dan Henderson can be seen as one of the best fighters this sport will ever see. Dan Henderson is undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer. He’s still the only man to hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time. He’s fought and won tournaments in the Pride and UFC, having to fight multiple times in one night. Do I think the match-up makes less sense than say Bisping vs. Jacare or even something like Bisping vs. an underrated wildcard such as Whittaker? Yes. But Dan Henderson is still one of the greatest of all time. He might be 46 years old, but he proved against Hector Lombard that he can still compete at a high level.

Let’s also not forget, Bisping isn’t a young stud anymore either. It looked like his career might’ve been slowing down and he probably never would’ve fought for the UFC title before fate ultimately allowed him to do so. That Henderson fight at UFC 100 is often the story of Bisping’s career. Whenever he faced a top-ranked opponent, he would go crashing back down. He would work his way back up the rankings, and then go crashing back down again. Henderson is well past his peak years of performance, but this is a game of styles. In terms of their styles, I still like how an older, slower Henderson matches up with Bisping. Hendo might be older, but he still has the power that can end the night for anyone. He’s proven that against the likes of Lombard and Tim Boetsch. While the Rockhold fight was an anomaly, Bisping has more often than not shown throughout his career that he’s not a one hitter quitter. Stylistically, this is still a good time to do this match-up, and I think Bisping might end up regretting asking for this fight.

Dan Henderson is probably my favorite fighter of all time, so I’m not going to complain he’s getting a title shot considering he got passed over for the title multiple times in his UFC career. If he does retire after this fight, so be it, he still retires as one of the greatest fighters this sport has ever seen.