Wanderlei (left) and Henderson (right) have already faced each other twice. Photo: Super Fights Production (UFC/Disclosure)
Even without knowing when he will be able to return to the UFC Octagon, Wanderlei Silva He's already dreaming about his next fight. The Brazilian declared that, in addition to wanting to face Chael Sonnen e Vitor belfort, also aims for a new confrontation with Dan Henderson, in what would be the 50th fight of his career.
Wanderlei and Henderson have already faced each other on two occasions, both at the now-defunct Japanese PRIDE event. In the first of them, in 2000, the Curitiba native resisted a harsh punishment to give Henderson his first career defeat, by decision of the judges. The rematch took place seven years later, in Las Vegas (USA), in a fight valid for the organization's belt. In the third round of the dispute, Henderson connected his feared hand to take Wanderlei to the canvas, winning the title.
In an interview with the website “LANCE!Net”, the Brazilian expressed his desire to complete the trilogy against Hendo. “I want to come back soon to have my 50th fight in my career. I wanted it to be at some special event. It's not news that I'd like to face Belfort or Sonnen, but there's another guy I'd really like to face, which is Dan Henderson, and such a duel is quite possible. We are tied one to one in the match and it would be nice to break that tie. In my last PRIDE, I lost the belt to him and I didn't even have the chance for a rematch, since we left. If this fight happens now, I'll even ask him to take the belt and whoever wins will keep it”, joked the fighter.
Through your account on Twitter, Henderson approved the idea. "Fine by me. What do you think?” he asked his followers. Soon after, Hendo asked for suggestions for who his next opponent would be, regardless of the category. “Who do you think I should face next? Let Dana White [UFC president] know. I want to fight in the year-end event, it doesn’t matter if it’s middleweight or light heavyweight,” he continued.
At 43 years old, Henderson is going through a difficult phase in his MMA career, having lost four of his last five fights, including resounding defeats to Vitor belfort (the first knockout of his career) and Daniel Cormier.
Wanderlei, in turn, has been alternating victories and defeats in recent years. At 38 years old, the Curitiba native has been away from fighting for over a year, with his last appearance in the Octagon being in March last year, knocking out Brian Stann. However, he may face problems obtaining the license for his next fight, as received a complaint from the Nevada Athletic Commission for evading a drug test in May.
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