Dan Henderson explains why he declined to fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Posted on January 12, 2012, 11:13 AM by Anton Gurevich"I was under the impression that [Dana White] was still kinda on the fence on wether he was gonna put me in front of Rashad or not, that's assuming Rashad wins. He did offer me a fight with little Nogueira and I didn't think the fans would be interested in that fight and not as much time as I'd like to prepare for a five round fight so I told him I'd wait and see what happens with the Rashad fight.
I'd like to fight Jones now rather than if I took that fight with Little Nog, I wouldn't be fighting Jones for another eight, ninth months. I'm okay waiting a little bit. It was more about having the time to prepare and I did inquire to say hey, I would be interested in doing it if it was a three round fight I could have time to prepare." - ClinchGear Radio
Mixed Martial Arts legend Dan Henderson revealed about the decision-making process behind declining the proposed fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. According to Henderson, the fans would not be interested in such match-up, and since it's a five-round fight - he had to decline Dana White's offer. Still, Hendo admitted that he would take a three-rounder with Little Nog, since such option requires less time to prepare. At the age of 41, it looks like Dan Henderson picks his fight, knowing that he has one last title run left in him.
Comments
I see where Dan is coming from and i get why he is doing this... but we have seen what happens when people say no to fights.. IE Rashad has had to wait ages.... & no disrespect but at Dans age he shouldnt be choosing to sit out for 8 or 9 months..... but i get why he is doing it.
and he didnt turn down a fight that was set up his fight was getting delayed
if he didnt want to wait they had a fight for him or he could wait.....it wasnt
like your going to fight Lil Nog and he said no they just let him know that
while waiting if he wanted to fit in a fight to keep lose they had him a good one
plus trying to make one more run and at his age he couldnt take a chance
on a injury
We all know Hendo is not scared to fight anyone at any weight. If it was not for a title shot, I would have declined any five rounder at his age, especially after the five round war he recently fought with "Shogun" . Dan has taken so many blows to the head recently even with his wins. If you go back all the way to the bisping fight before his defection to Strikeforce, he has consistently been outstuck and looked slow and predictable. His H-bomb right hand has been his saving grace in fany of his fights. I don't wish to see him end up like Ali or Freddy Roach with Advanced premature Parkinsons due to cuncussive blows to the head. At 41 and after many hard fought wars, he has earned the ability to say no and I applaud him for doing so.
After beating Fedor by KO and surviving the Rua war when he was almost out of gas, fighting Little Nog would be a step down. He was smart and I hope he gets Jones for one last shot at glory, then hangs them up for good and passes his knowledge on to the next generation.
he did good, a fight with lil nog would be a bit of a waste.
Jones doesn't have an opponent & wants to fight asap, Dana should make it happen.
probably the most decorated mma fighter, I hope Hendo gets the UFC title, he deserves it.
Like Ali or Roach. Calm down son. Compare the amount of head strikes and technique from those throwing them. Like saying mayweather will get permanetlly hurt from his grappling times. Rope the dope ......Bubba Kushin
Would of been nice to see him avenge that Lil Nog lost tho
If he's not interested in avenging the loss, I honestly don't think it really matters. As Strikeforce LHW Champion and coming in off a win against former champ Rua, he's placed well above Little Nog in the rankings already.
Lets not forget the LHW Dan KOing Fedor lol.
He has a better chance of beating Anderson Silva than John Jones. 185 is probably a better weight class for Dan.
He said after getting dominated by Shields that the cut to 185 is too hard for him at his age. He wouldn't want to go back to MW except for that one last fight with Anderson. And honestly, why would Dana want to give a title shot to someone who wouldn't be able to reliably make the cut to defend the belt?
henderson fighting little nog would've been a step down imo
after his last performance the only fights that make sense to me is for either belt at 205 or 185
At this point in Hendos career I wanna see him face top opponents not being a stepping stone. Hendo has nothign to gain from beating little nog. If Hendo is not in line for a title shot, A rematch with Rampage, or a fight with shogun or rashad is what I want to see.
I have to agree with Hendo on this one. I have no interest in seeing him fight Lil Nog for five rounds, much less three rounds.
After the streak he has been on in SF and the recent war with Shogun, I think that Henderson is next in line for a shot at Bones. That is if Rashad doesn't perform well in his upcoming fight.
fighting lil nog is just a waste of time and makes no sence.
jones wants to fight and hendo wants the title shot, lets go!!!
Hes not getting any younger its smart of him to choose the better fights.I hope he gets another crack at gold no matter what weight.
Hendo is a champion of SF right? should he be the automatic No.1 contender to Jones belt?
After beating shogun....YES !
With that win over Shogun, I can't argue with you. I thought that Hendo should have gotten a shot at bones as soon as he moved back to the UFC.
But that's what I wanted Diaz and Overeem to do as well. But things didn't go my way on that either.
i has a good point of it being a step down, and also not fighting a five rounder on short notice, but a fighter should always want to avenge a lost , im a hendo fan it would be nice to see him prove he can beat lil nog