Dan Henderson is next for Lyoto Machida

White is acting like a slave owner again.

I must admit I like this Dana much better than the one that lets his fighters hand pic who and when they fight. Would love to see him take this stance with all the fighters. Its better for the fans this way.

Agreed, but you forgot to add with a a teenage girl's attitude.

If Dana just cut down on the attitude and swearing, most people would be able to see that this fight makes complete sense.

agree, plus he is underestimating machida way too much against hendo....i take machida over hendo via submission in 4th rd....then machida shove his foot in dana's big mouth...

Machida has made a living out of dodging predictable strikes and punishing people for it. He's at the top of his game and Henderson is getting old. The knee injury on Henderson may cost him a bit of mobility against one of the most moble people in MMA. As of late, Hendo hasn't had more than two rounds of cardio and is coming off an injury, whereas Machida is healthy and never runs out of gas. I take Lyoto all night on this one.

Wow, what a strong site this is. I agree with all four of the first four comments and replies.

Dana is acting like a 12-year old selfish brat. Lyoto has every right to decline a fight against a a dangerous opponent who literally destroyed him--on a 3-week notice. Only crazy people like Sonnen would take this risk ("opportunity" in Dana's words)...These fighters are free to choose what best works for them, their career and their livelihood...A second loss to Jones may very well be an irrevocable exclusion for the Dragon from the title contendership scene...How would that look like for you Dana? You simply don't care, you callous businessman.

Can just picture dana as a car salesman, stereotypical job for his personality type.



Ömg why didn't u buy the ****in car man!?!? I give you the opportunity of a lifetime, bang any babe you want, grab the world by the **** and you turn me down!?! STupid !^@^#*@)(#&^%!!!!!!



Yea anyways, once again dan is in a fight where the only hope is the big right hand.Machida may have learned something from the rampage fight, and with dans stamina recently it shouldn't be hard to make him look bad.

Machida is my fav fighter ater FEDOR EMILIANEKO (dont forget him)



even if i wanted the dragonto get the title shot, this fight makes more sense.



If he wins decisively ,he will really "deserve" the title shot in the eyes of everyone.



Machida should win this by submission or decision.



But I do not count Hendo out, because he has a LOT OF LUCK when he fights against better fighters than him !



If Hendo is as lucky as he was when he fought FEDOR, he might beat Machida...

It would suck big time.

Yeah comparing White to a slave owner make a lot of since. The majority of His fighters/slaves get paid over 6 figures a year. They also have great benefits "a very good insurance plan" For his so called slaves. And not to forget the multiple bonuses of $50,000 to $75,000 every fight night. Or maybe its because of the fact that he doesn't force his slaves to sign contracts. He allows the slaves to make there own decision on if they want to take a fight. That being said he lets it be know if he feels that they may have made the wrong decision. LOL Dana slave owner. You obviously have no clue what really goes on behind the scenes.

The majority of UFC fighters do not make over six figures. The majority of UFC fighters make well under six figures. The top money makers are either already famous or in the top of the division. Otherwise you are looking at 10 to 15 thousand for fights. You have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. These guys making a max of 60,000 a year have to pay for trainers, gyms, licenses, medical, etc. most UFC fighters are not making close to 6 figures. More like 30-40 after sponsors even. Only the elite and famous get payed well enough to save enough to live off of.

IMO Hendo will have a lot of trouble with Machida. In and out style, excellent TDD. Don''t think he will get knocked out, but could get picked apart. Also will Dan's knee and the layoff (At his age) be a problem.

But there is always the x-factor of the H-bomb. Very excited for this fight. Big fan of both.

yeah this is gonna be a interesting match-up. to be honest i think machida has the best chance of knocking dan out out of anyone. if dan gasses in the later rounds he may get subbed. dans an animal so he can win but i honestly think this is the worst match-up for dan because machida always moves away from strikes until he sees an opening. atleast jones tends to be more aggressive which is better for dans style

I have Machida, the more technical fighter, picking Dan apart in this one.

Yes, and somehow (we all know its because MMA math doesn't work) Lyoto will handle Hendo in a way that Rua couldn't even though Rua convincingly beat Machida.

Only in their second fight.



Shogun lost the first--remamber?



And even if you disagree with the decision--neither fighter won the fight convincingly.

I don't know man - for me I as a big Machida fan I am glad he turned down the fight with Jones..

Get some good training in - Win a couple fights - than go for a decent attempt at the title - why go in ill prepared?

If he loses to Jones on short notice - when will his next shot be Dana?Never.

If Machida loses to Hendo - He wouldn't have held the title very long anyway because Dan would be up and coming.

Machida has to spend sometime trying to figure out how to beat Jones and Hendo cause he will stay a top contender . It's not like he can just go in there and try to win with his physical attributes - Jones has him beat there along with everyone else in the division - he needs a game plan.

If he can crack the code - than he can keep the belt and than that's money in Bank!

This is a good fight for both Hendo and Machida - whoever wins will be better for it and I would love to see either of these guys finish Jones!

I agree, blessing in disguise for Machida.

All respect to Hendo as well! Happy with either winning.

I hate how dana always bad mouths fighters that don't jump when he says jump, he's not a fighter he doesn't know what it takes to prepare, this guys have their jobs on the line sometimes even legacys, Dana already made a shit load of money.

The thing is, Machida doesn't care about fighting more. He just didn't want to fight Jones again with a short camp because if he loses twice to him he'll most likely never get a shot at the title while he's champ again.



If Machida fights his type of match he should dominate. The only way Dan wins is if he lands that big shot, and Machida is good enough for that not to happen.



However, if he competes like he did against Rampage (scared of the KO) he could give away rounds again.

Exactly. Insightful comment Evan.

Couldn't agree more. I see Machida winning this. It is Dan that, unfortunately, will find himself very far from a title shot. Also; damn, DW is a douche.

This sounds like its Dan whos out of the title shot, not Machida.

Now Henderson needs to climb 2 mountains to have a shot at ufc gold instead of one.

Machida will beat Henderson. This is a good fight though. I think Dana is posturing right now because he knows at some point with the sport growing as much as it is there's going to be a fighters union.

Wow, I think I agreed with every comment here today

dana: "You jump on opportunities when they're available" or you could say : you suck my dic* when ever I say so...

not everybody is going to do that dana.

would be pretty ass stupid of Machida to jump in on a short notice fight against Jones who had an entire camp...

especially because he lost last time..

dana should think a little bit before he opens his stupid mouth!!

yup

That was Machida's chance. The train has left the station.

I don't agree.



Machida must keep winning--but if he does--he will inevitably get another title shot.



Joh Jones has decimated the top 5 of the LHW division--and there are only a couple of new fighters possibly available for a title shot. eg. Gustaffsson or Texeira.



If Jon Jones keeps fighting frequently and winning--there won't be anyone left at LHW--and there are few viable contenders.



Matt Hamill?

I meant that was his chance, this time around. I didn't mean for the rest of his career. I was responding to toxic who was implying that Dana should have waited for Machida somehow. If Machida turned it down at that time he must have been aware he was going to have to fight his way back up to the title again.

I think Hendo's big chance may have come and gone unfortunately...

The whole world changes overnight??? I'm pretty sure 99% of the world does not give a shit about MMA.

Clearly he means the whole world "of" the person who just won the title. In the previous world you were just another contender, in the new reality you are Champ... See how it works?

Dan is done

This is the fight that makes sense. No two ways about it. However, it is very strange that this works out even better for Jones since he doesn't have to face 2 full strength fighters back-to-back. To be sure, this fight will drain some life out of both Hendo and Machida. Great fight, a bit bitter-sweet at this point, they are both awesome.

Dana is clearly trying to make a point with this match up. He's essentially punishing both Hendo and Machida. The fight does make sense however you can clearly tell when Joe Silva plays match maker and when Dana does. Dana has a child like mentality when he believes he's been wronged.

As for the fight. Machida ideally stops the takedown, darts in/out and hopes Dan gasses in later rounds. I like Machida in this one.

I have a funny feeling that Vitor might get Jones. If so then this fight will be very significant. Let's just say in some unbelievable way Vitor did get Jones. A Vitor Vs Machida or Vitor Vs Hendo match up will be great to watch.



Not putting money on Vitor BUT you never know The UFC has not had an upset for a very long time.