Daniel Cormier vs Dan Henderson The Build-up
News broke early in the week that Daniel Cormier will square off against Dan Henderson in a showdown between Olympic wrestlers that is sure to be explosive. Not only is this fight a number one contender bout it is also perfect for Cormier who was rumoured to be facing Rafael Cavalcante who ranked 7 places below Hendo and not the title setup fight he needed.
The Cormier VS Hendo showdown will be highly anticipated and we’re gonna see continuous promo`s saying how Cormier is facing his idol and loads of rubbish like that, the fact of the matter is Cormier will steam-roll Hendo without a second taught…
Now don`t get me wrong, I`m not a Dan Henderson hater but what he now brings to the table is not enough to compete with Cormier, who has shown time and again that his game-plan for Hendo type opponents is rock solid and has yet to be breached.
Case and point would be when Cormier fought the tricky Frank Mir and the knock-out artist Roy Nelson in his last fights at heavyweight. Never in either fight was Cormier in danger, Mir is a submission maestro that DC handled with ease and Nelson knocks people out for fun.
Again DC never strayed near danger and won at a canter. Considering Nelson’s knock-out ability closely resembles that of Hendo, Cormier might already have the plan at his fingertips to defeat him.
Fighting behemoths does not bother DC who has faced monsters like Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett but at light-heavyweight, he faces a different type of animal. He now will square off with fighters that possess the same power that the heavyweights have coupled with the speed that could be his undoing at this weight.
In that regard, he has somewhat of an easy insertion into the division with his first fight ending after 79 seconds against a UFC newcomer on 10 days notice and now his second fight against arguably the slowest light-heavyweight in the UFC.
The question of the result is not really up for debate, it now becomes what good is this fight for DC. It`s, without doubt, a better fight than Cavalcante in terms of reputation, he now faces a fighter that is known worldwide and brings way more recognition.
Facing Jon Jones or Alexander Gustafsson
In terms of facing the 205 lb Champion Jon Jones or No 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson, Hendo is a step down in competition. The speed, tempo, skill-set, and cardio displayed by these two machines in their recent fight of the year bout is something Cormier will not have seen before.
And he will not get this from the ageing Hendo. The drive to win and the Hbomb is what Hendo will bring and both can be countered by the calculating Cormier.
An Ideal fight for Cormier would have been Rashad Evans, a fight that was meant to happen until a knee injury put Evans on the sideline. As far as preparation for the top 2 there is very little Cormier can now do with all opponents ahead of him in the division having scheduled fights. In this regard, Henderson is the best of the rest and still provides elite-level wrestling and KO power for DC to deal with.
I don`t like writing off a fighter especially one as tough and talented as Hendo, and in this sport, it is true anything can happen, but at this stage in his career, he is definitely on the downward slope.
Compared to a Cormier who is still learning in a sport that he`s only been competing professionally for 5 years. Cormier is going to win this fight and after that, he`s going to be an awful pain for whoever is Champion.