Hendo Believes He Would Have Gotten Title Shot With Jones If Evans Was Inured Earlier

Source: MMAWeekly

Former Strikeforce and PRIDE champion Dan Henderson wanted a fight with current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones upon re-signing with the UFC. However, Henderson instead received a match with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, which takes place tomorrow night at UFC 139.

In a recent interview with MMA Weekly Radio, "Hendo" disclosed that had Rashad Evans' injury been released a few weeks earlier, he might have been the one asked to step in for Evans and meet Jones at UFC 140 instead of Lyoto Machida.

"I actually would have rather been in a fight for the title, but this fight excites me too. Shogun's' a tough guy, and it's gonna be a big challenge," Henderson said. "Had Rashad said he was injured two or three weeks earlier, I probably would have had that fight instead of Machida."

Many feel like the Henderson-Rua bout is a No. 1 contender's match for the UFC 205-pound title, but nothing has been confirmed. Evans is still slated to receive a title shot when he is healthy. Henderson, however, is only thinking about Rua right now and how dangerous he has been in the past.

"I'm not going to try extra hard to knock him out just to get a title shot," Henderson said. "I'm going out there first and foremost to win the fight, and obviously try to finish him along the way."

Do you think the winner of Henderson-Rua should be next in line after Evans for a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title? Sound off in our "Comments" sections below.

Dana Becker is a staff writer for FightLine.com. He can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DanaBecker.