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Who should Hendo's warmup fight be against?

  • Jason MacDonald

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  • Chris Leben

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**IF** Hendo drops, then who should his warmup fight be?

1K views 34 replies 24 participants last post by  NikosCC 
#1 · (Edited)
If Hendo were to drop to 185, it's pretty obvious that many would want to see Hendo vs A. Silva. But I, for one, think Dan should have a warmup fight first. Since he's possibly fighting at 185 in December and it's unlikely his opponent will be Anderson, then who should his warmup fight at UFC 79 be?

Oh and IF this is the case, then I'm hoping for a Hendo vs A. Silva UFC 81 headliner. :thumb02:
 
#6 ·
Uchi said:
Imo he doesn't need a warmup fight. Hendo is no newcomer. I say Hendo vs Silva for the unification title again lol, and it better be free!
I definitely see where you're coming from, but since Bubba The Love Sponge did say Hendo might fight at 185 in December, I'm just asking who do you think it should be against. I highly doubt he's fighting Silva so that's why I asked.
 
#7 ·
If he needed a warm-up fight the logical chocie would be Terry Martin or Chris Leban! But he doesn't need a warm-up fight and quite frankly Hendo wouldn't want one!

I'd like to see him fight either Okami, Marquardt, or Rich Franklin!
 
#9 ·
Uchi said:
Imo he doesn't need a warmup fight. Hendo is no newcomer. I say Hendo vs Silva for the unification title again lol, and it better be free!
Agree. This guy is the holder of a middle weight championship belt....whether it's from another org is not relevant. As you state...this ain't no newcomer.

UFC owns his contract...if he decides to drop to MW he and Silva should certainly have a unification fight.
 
#10 ·
NavyChief said:
Agree. This guy is the holder of a middle weight championship belt....whether it's from another org is not relevant. As you state...this ain't no newcomer.

UFC owns his contract...if he decides to drop to MW he and Silva should certainly have a unification fight.
Ok I agree with this....But please read my other posts. Assuming Hendo fights at UFC 79 at 185, who should he fight? Since Silva will unlikely fight again this soon with such little notice, then who ELSE should it be?
 
#12 ·
AceFranklin88 said:
Ok I agree with this....But please read my other posts. Assuming Hendo fights at UFC 79 at 185, who should he fight? Since Silva will unlikely fight again this soon with such little notice, then who ELSE should it be?
My personal opinion is that if he decides to drop to MW then his only option should be to fight Silva. If he has to wait then I say he should wait (hell...look at the current log jam in the HW and WW divisions). If he drops a class then he should not fight at UFC79 unless it's against Silva.

Another personal opinion (since nobody asked for one..ha) is I believe that he could (and would) fight again next month if asked. I don't see the fight against Rich as having taken a whole bunch out of him and I bet he never really broke training after the fight for more than just a few days.
 
#13 ·
dan henderson needs at least one win before he gets the title shot imo. he lost his last fight, and pride middleweight champion or not he needs to prove his worth to the ufc fans. a champion has never lost a title and got an immidiate title shot for his next fight. (randy is the only exception, but the mans a freak'n legend)

that being said, i think patrick cote would be an interesting matchup. if dan decides to keep it standing (which he probably would) then this would be a very exciting stand-up battle with an almost certain knockout ending.
 
#14 ·
There is no point whatsoever in Hendo having a warm up fight, what better warm up then the fight he had with Rampage .That isnt the post writers point anyway, he's saying it looks like hendo is scheduled to fight before Silva may be ready, I dont really want to see hendo beating up on anyone in the middleweight division because i dont see any fight other then Silva for him.
 
#16 ·
They wont put on Franklin vs Hendo as its really hard to market well. If Frankilin wins he's still miles off a title shot and if Hendo wins then its no big deal for Hendo but Franklins career is pretty much over.

Hendo vs Okami definitly seems like the most likely fight as Okami's the closest in line for a title shot other than Hendo. Would be a great fight to.
 
#17 ·
looney liam said:
....he needs to prove his worth to the ufc fans......
Why does he (or any other fighter) need to prove his worth to the fans in order to be slated for a bout against one fighter or another? Not flaming you...just curious on the reasoning for this?

I just don't see how the UFC could market this fight (ie...Hendo vs MW fighter) with him going against anyone other than Silva for a unification. And although the actual matchups are obviously very important the market/$$ potential of the fight/fighters must have at least an equal value in the eyes of the UFC heirarchy.

Although, as we all know, in the world of MMA anybody can get beaten with the right shot at the right time, I just don't see anyone in the MW division really giving Dan a solid challenge in the first place (the Champ being the obvious exception).
 
#18 ·
Yeah, I agree with a lot of the guys in here. I wouldn't want to have to wait for Hendo to warm up to face Anderson Silva. What's the point in showing Hendo whoop on someone we already know Anderson would beat down? I'm much more interested in Dan fighting him right away so we don't see Anderson steamroll through someone else.
 
#19 ·
Hendo doesn't need to prove himself. He's coming off a decision loss in a higher weight class in what I consider FOTY. The MW division is so barren to begin with. It would only be stalling to put Hendo in a tune up fight when he could be facing the only man in the UFC that would most challenge him, and vice versa.
 
#20 ·
The second best guy in the UFC's MW, in my opinion, is Nate Marquardt. I believe that, were this guy fighting at Welterweight, only Georges St Pierre would present him problems.

I'd pay to watch him go at it with Henderson. I like both fighters, so I don't know who I'd root for.
 
#22 · (Edited)
RyanMac said:
Since when does a reigning champion in a weight class need a warm-up fight?
Ok I'm really getting sick of repeating myself. READ THE FREAKING THREAD FIRST. Since Hendo is rumored to fight at UFC 79, who should he fight in this "warmup" fight? Since it's unlikely to be Silva. Since that's the case, who should he fight before Silva is able to fight again? THAT'S WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT. :bye02:
 
#25 ·
vandalian said:
I picked Leben, though MacDonald is probably more deserving. I just think Henderson vs. Leben would be one hell of a fun fight, and a sadistic part of me loves seeing the Crippler get pounded.
All this, of course, is assuming Okami is indeed leaving.

I don't get this fascination with Leben.

If I had to fight one well known UFC MW, it'd be Leben because I think he's a lot more steam than chug - a MW Tito Ortiz.
 
#26 ·
AceFranklin88 said:
Ok I'm really getting sick of repeating myself. READ THE FREAKING THREAD FIRST. Since Hendo is rumored to fight at UFC 79, who should he fight in this "warmup" fight? Since it's unlikely to be Silva. Since that's the case, who should he fight before Silva is able to fight again? THAT'S WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT. :bye02:

Since when does a reigning champion need a warmup fight?
 
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