Dan Henderson is Focused on Rashad Evans, but Unfinished Business with Jon Jones Lingers

UFC light heavyweight Dan Henderson is focused on his June 15 main event bout with former light heavyweight titleholder Rashad Evans at UFC 161, but he still wants the fight that didn’t get to happen with champion Jon Jones.

Henderson and Jones were scheduled to meet in the UFC 151 main event on Sept. 1, 2012, but a knee injury forced Henderson out of the fight and eventually led to the cancellation of the event.

Jones instead faced Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 and Henderson’s title shot dematerialized.

The 42-year-old returned at UFC 157, losing to Lyoto Machida by split decision in an uneventful fight.  The loss removed Henderson from title contention, but the thought of facing Jones remains.

“Obviously that’s something that was supposed to happen last year and didn’t. And, you know, it’s more about one day I would like to fight Jon Jones. I feel like I have unfinished business there,” said Henderson on a UFC 161 media conference call.

To have any hope of a fight with Jones ever happening, Henderson must first get past Evans, and has put the fight that didn’t happen in the back of his mind.

“I’ve been 100-percent focused on this fight – not even really even concerned about what happens after,” he said. “Rashad’s extremely tough and very dangerous, and I want to make sure I’m 100-percent focused.”

UFC 161 takes place on June 15 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a win over Evans could hold the key to one last run at UFC gold for the aging Henderson.