Dan Henderson Back in the UFC: 5 Reasons He's a Threat at Light Heavyweight

If you follow MMA on the Intertubes, you may have heard a little something recently about Dan Henderson's triumphant return to the UFC, which he'll consummate at UFC 139 by fighting light-heavyweight contender Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

At 41, Hendo doesn't exactly have unlimited time in the sport, but he's still pretty darn good. I'd go so far as to say he poses a legitimate threat in the light heavyweight division. Why do I say that? Here are five reasons.

4. You can’t knock him out

Look at that head. I think it was carved out of wood illegally poached from the hull of the U.S.S. Constitution.

In 36 professional matches, Hendo has never been KO’d or TKO’d. And he’s fought some of the greatest strikers in the sport’s history, including Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Arona, Vitor Belfort and Rampage Jackson.

This is always a useful characteristic in MMA, but it becomes even more useful when the top guys in the division—Jon Jones and Shogun come immediately to mind—predicate their attacks so heavily on the standup phase.

(Photo credit: Tapology.com)

3. He’s Been There Before

Jones, Phil Davis and several of the other combatants in the upper reaches of the division are relatively young and relatively untested. They’ve never gone into the deep water.

It just so happens that Hendo lives in the deep water. Let’s just say he does get a shot at Jones. Henderson isn’t going to be intimidated. And if Jones, by that point, hasn’t yet been pushed in the Octagon, leave that little matter to Hendo.

(Photo credit: Vegas News)

2. The H-Bomb

Plain and simple, all Henderson needs is to land that right hand just once.

The 12 victories he has earned directly as a result of punching (four of which were of the one-punch variety) are a testament to that.

And lest you think power erodes with age, each victory in Henderson’s current three-fight winning streak came by way of a KO or TKO due to punches.

(Photo credit: MMAConvert)

1. He has something to prove

When Henderson came back into the UFC in 2007, he came carrying both the Pride middleweight and light-heavyweight title belts. In the span of six months, they were both gone. A September loss to Quinton Jackson took care of the 205 belt. A March tapout to Anderson Silva took care of the middleweight unification.

I’m pretty confident that no one needs to remind Dan Henderson about any of this.