MMA Views

Fedor vs Henderson: 48 Hour Post Mortem

Its been two days since Dan Henderson pulled off an amazing first round TKO victory over the once “most feared fighter in the world” Fedor Emelianenko and there are many questions regarding the future for both of these fighters. Fedor has now lost three fights in a row, two of them in the first round, and hasn’t looked particularly great doing it. On the other hand, Dan Henderson just fought the last fight on his Strikeforce contract and is hinting at returning to the UFC for yet another title unification bout. There are several possible scenarios that can now play out.

Fedor’s Retirement

In most top level MMA organizations three losses is enough to earn you your walking papers. There are rumors that Strikeforce might be releasing Fedor in which case he should retire from MMA. The UFC will certainly not pick him up and it would just be unsettling to watch him fighter in lesser organizations. Fedor’s body of work speaks for itself and he will still go down as a true legend of MMA.

Fedor Continues in Strikeforce

This seems like a very unlikely option on many levels. Fedor’s marketability has dropped significantly after three straight losses. The Heavyweight division’s elite are all tangled up in the Grand Prix which Fedor was eliminated from not too long ago. The once anticipated super fight between Fedor and Overeem has no chance of happening now that Overeem was released from Strikeforce last week.
This only leaves a group of no-name heavyweights left to fight an aging and slumping Fedor.

Henderson gets new Strikeforce contract

If Henderson were to resign with Strikeforce there would be a few potentially interesting bouts. The first that comes to mind would be against Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi, the current Dream Light Heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, has been on a winning streak lately barring his draw against Keith Jardine. Mousasi could pose a significant threat to Henderson on his feet but Mousasi’s achilles heel (wrestling) is Henderson’s strength. Another interesting fight would be against another former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion ‘King Mo’ Muhammed Lawal. Lawal, a seasoned wrestler, was on a seven fight professional win streak until losing his belt to Rafael Cavalcante.

Henderson gets a UFC contract

This would be an extremely interesting change of events that could lead to some potentially great fights. Henderson said in his post-fight interview that he wants a Light Heavyweight title unification bout which would be his third attempt. He lost his first title unification bout against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and his second against Anderson Silva. Current Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is slated to defend his belt against Quinton Jackson in September. This spells for a potential Jones vs Henderson or Jackson vs Henderson unification battle. If Henderson were to resign with the UFC there are also a few interesting non-title fights that could come to fruition including Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, or Phil Davis.

Conclusion

Both fighters have some important decisions to make with their management and organizations. Fedor should strongly consider retirement if he doesn’t have to desire to fight anymore. If he does still have the desire he may have some serious roadblocks ahead of him getting another big fight in Strikeforce. Dan Henderson needs to consider what may lie ahead for him after two or three fights. If he resigns with Strikeforce is there anything left for him after a fight with Mousasi or Lawal? The time to sign with the UFC is now. His stock is high after his past three performances and he would be thrown immediately into the mix in the UFC. Henderson and Dana White may have their differences but Dana knows what the fans want and does what he can to give it to them. And that is Dan Henderson in the UFC.