With so much focus on Jon Jones' decision to effectively abort UFC 151 by turning down a fight against Chael Sonnen, his original opponent, Dan Henderson, has virtually been forgotten.
It was a knee injury suffered in training which ruled Henderson out of the fight, but he is going to resume training next month and has already booked a trip to Evolve MMA in Singapore.
While Jones stated after the win that he had 'unfinished business' with Henderson, it appears that the UFC is leaning towards a fight between him and Lyoto Machida with the winner getting a possible shot at the reigning light heavyweight champion.
At present, no date is booked for Henderson vs. Machida, unless the former Pride welterweight and middleweight champion knows something we don't, but sources in Singapore confirmed that he was going to Evolve MMA to work with longtime cornerman Heath Sims and the team of world champion trainers there.
One of Henderson's former opponents, Rich Franklin, will be at Evolve MMA at the same time as him as he prepares for his November fight with Cung Le in Macau. Although the timing is coincidental, these two legends will probably end up training together and could even become sparring partners.
Evolve MMA has established a reputation as being the top mixed martial arts (MMA) training facility in Asia and a number of US-based fighters including Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren have made the long trip to Singapore to train there in recent months.
Henderson will be working with the training team which includes nine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) black belts and some Muay Thai legends such as Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee, Attachai Fairtex, and Orono Wor Petchpun and Muangfalek Kiatvichian.
The UFC's light heavyweight division is very much up in the air with middleweight champion Anderson Silva about to fight at 205 pounds for the third time and Jones linked with a move up to heavyweight. Whatever happens Henderson is very much in the mix and the only question is whether he gets a title shot straightaway or has to win one more fight first.
Traveling halfway across the world to train demonstrates just how serious Henderson is about putting together one last title run and how desperately he wants to win a UFC belt in the modern era to sit alongside the Pride and Strikeforce straps and UFC middleweight tournament he won in 1998.



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