UFC President Confirms Dan Henderson Next In Line For Jon Jones

After Jon Jones’s decisive win over former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, UFC President Dana White made it no secret who the next contender is.  And that’s former Olympian and PRIDE champion Dan Henderson.

“We told Dan Henderson he would fight the winner of this fight.” Dana White said at the UFC 145 post-fight press conference.

Henderson earned his shot at the title after having a fight of the year candidate against former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.  In addition to beating Rua, Henderson knocked out legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and captured the Strikeforce light heavyweight title from Rafael Feijao.

As for Jones, after being critical of his own striking against Evans at UFC 145, Jones feels like he has a mission to accomplish by being the dominant striker and aiming to finish the PRIDE and UFC legend in devastating fashion.

“I feel great that I already have a mission, and I’m working to better myself,” Jones said.  “Dan Henderson is a great opponent.  He’s a winner and has a huge fan base.  He has extreme knockout power and I’m excited to conquer.”

At this time there has been no date set for Jones vs. Henderson, but stay tuned to MMAWeekly as we keep you up to date on everything UFC.