Belfort: Dan Henderson Refused To Fight Johnson

[No More Sorrow]

On the exclusive chat, Belfort reveals he wasn’t UFC’s first chouice as an opponent for Anthony’s middleweight debut.

“He’s a strong guy, feared in UFC. Dan Henderson refused to fight him, everybody declined it. He’s a guy who’s hard to match-up in this division, but I accepted it at a glanceâ€, reveals the Brazilian. “I have never feared any man… I thought it was good challenge and I said yes. I showed how I value the fans and the UFCâ€.


“I fought a guy weighting like 220lbs. I dominated him on the ground, I showed my Jiu-Jitsu, I showed my strikingâ€, celebrates Vitor, cool about the possible critics received regarding the “bad times†he went through for being taken down.


“When I win quickly, people complain it was too quick. When it takes a while longer people also complain… It’s hard to please people, but I had it in my hands. I did what was needed to be doneâ€

There's no real reason for Hendo to even want to fight Rumble, especially now that he's in the mix for a possible title shot with Jones.

 

[The Cork]

There's no real reason for Hendo to even want to fight Rumble, especially now that he's in the mix for a possible title shot with Jones.

Exactly.

Not to mention it probably was still too soon considering what the Shogun fight took out of him.

 

[Slim]

Hendo would have gained absolutely nothing out of fighting Johnson. Hell it would have been a step down after having the fight of the year against Shogun. Anything in a fight with Johnson could have sent him down in the rankings and made him wait even longer for a shot at Jones... plus... its at middleweight and right now Hendo is comfortable at light-heavyweight.

So yeah... Hendo vs. Rumble would have made zero sense and been a lose-lose situation for him where as it would have benefited Rumble greatly whether win or lose cause its a high profile fight for him and IF he were to win... his stock would have skyrocketed.