In case you have been under a rock today, UFC 151 has been cancelled.

The short story is Dan Henderson injured his knee and couldn’t fight next Saturday, prompting the UFC to offer Jon Jones a replacement opponent of Chael Sonnen. Jones, after speaking with his team, declined to take the fight on such short notice.

So, the UFC, instead of finding a new main event, or just running with the card they setup sans the main event, decided to just axe the event altogether.

In the process, they completely threw the light heavyweight champion under the bus.

Normally, I am on Dana White’s side of things. He is a hot head, no doubt, but he usually tells it like it is.

However, blaming Jones for the canceling of an event is simply a convenient way to take the blame off of himself and the UFC.

First off, canceling an entire UFC event is a big deal. It impacts the fighters, the venue, the host city and those that would be working the event.

Many fighters rely on a small paycheck from fighting on the under card simply to make ends meet. Due to the UFC’s venom spewed at Jones, many of those fighters are now taking their anger and frustration out on the champion as well.

But, let’s all take a deep breath and take into consideration two things:

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Last week, “The Last Emporer” Fedor Emelianenko decided to call it a career following his first round KO win over Pedro Rizzo at a M-1 Global event.

It wasn’t the way many envisioned Fedor stepping away from MMA.

For a man that went undefeated for a 10-year span, Fedor should have been someone that ended his career in a blaze of glory.

Instead, he ended his career on a three-fight win streak over fighters that had passed their prime long before he did.

The lasting images of Fedor seem to be a tapout to Fabricio Werdum, a bloody face at the hands of Antonio Silva, and face-down body thanks to a big hand from Dan Henderson.

There is no shame in Fedor’s losses, as time makes cowards of us all, but we all hoped for greater things from Fedor. Perhaps greater than he could really achieve.

Fedor is following in the footsteps of many MMA legends before him.

There was a time that Tito Ortiz seemed unbeatable in the UFC. Now, he is not even top 10 in the light heavyweight division.

Chuck Liddell was untouchable when he finally won the UFC title, but he soon developed a glass jaw and simply couldn’t beat anyone.

Matt Hughes is still referenced as the greatest welterweight champion in UFC history, but he has not been a title contender for five years.

All of these men should have no shame. Nobody can sustain a level of performance that they achieved for very long.

Even today, the likes of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva appear to be flawless. But, there will be a day when they too must accept the fate of time.

Looking back, it is hard to imagine anyone will have the kind of run Fedor did during the first 10 years of the new millennium. He won 28 fights in that time without a single loss and fought the majority of the top fighters in the heavyweight division at that time. He also did so as an undersized heavyweight.

Anderson Silva has been unbeaten since 2006 and has done so very impressively, but in today’s age of MMA, with fighters evolving so quickly, you have to imagine someone will have his number sooner rather than later.

The same can be said for Jon Jones. A better, younger, and stronger Jon Jones is being built right now in gyms around the world.

Fedor did what few have. He managed to stay ahead of the game for 10 years. It is a feat that may never be repeated. For that reason, it is fair to call him the greatest heavyweight in MMA history and maybe even the greatest fighter in all of MMA history.

Last night at UFC 139 we had some great fights:

UFC 139 didn’t have a title fight as the main event, but the battle between Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua couldn’t have been any better.

The two competed in the first five-round non-title fight since the UFC added the new five-round rule to any main event, and in the end, Henderson managed to narrowly out-point Rua for a unanimous decision.

It appeared that Henderson would end the fight early as he landed some big right hands on Rua, but the former UFC champion survived and pushed the fight into the later rounds where Henderson became exhausted. The final seven minutes were all Rua, but it was too little, too late, as Henderson had done enough to win 48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards.

The win pushes Henderson into the top 5 of the UFC light heavyweight division, but an immediate rematch with Rua may be in order due to the reaction from the fans and UFC brass on the fight itself.

Check out the link above for more results.

Dan Henderson disposed of one former PRIDE legend, can he do it again in his return to the octagon.

MMAWeekly.com is reporting that the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion has agreed to return to the UFC to take on former PRIDE champion, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have verbally agreed to face off at UFC 139 on Nov. 19, MMAWeekly.com has learned.

Independent sources confirmed the fight, which will stand as Henderson’s return to the organization after defeating Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce.

The bout will likely be the new main event for the card that saw its prior main event between heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and no. 1 contender Junior dos Santos get moved to the main event of the Nov. 12 UFC on Fox fight card.

This is an exciting addition to UFC 139 and likely could be a No. 1 contender’s match in the division after Rashad Evans takes on the winner of Jon Jones vs. “Rampage” Jackson.

It’s surprising that these two never met in PRIDE, as both were legends and champions in the organization.

Both men have one-punch KO power and formidable skills on the ground, with Henderson being a wrestling specialist, and Rua being a submission specialist.

Did the UFC bite off more than it can chew with scheduling a live event on FOX in November?

The premiere MMA organization wants to put on the two best fights possible for its premiere on the broadcast network on Nov. 12, but reports from Tatame have the UFC setting up a possible rematch between Anderson Silva and Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Dan Henderson.

Problem is, Silva is fighting Yushin Okami this Saturday at UFC 134.

Anderson Silva will put his belt on the line this Saturday, but the organization is already thinking on his next title defense. According to sources close to the situation, the middleweight champion is in talks with the UFC to fight Dan Henderson at UFC’s first show on FOX, scheduled to November 12, in California.

Anderson, who already defeated the former Pride champion in his long UFC career, tapping him in a rear-naked choke at UFC 82, fights the highly underdog Yushin Okami this Saturday, at UFC Rio, while Henderson waits to define his future with the end of his contract with Strikeforce.

Sources also indicated that if Henderson didn’t agree to move down to middleweight months after a heavyweight showdown against Fedor Emelianenko, Chael Sonnen is the option to replace him against Silva.

Sonnen is set to fight Brian Stann at UFC 136, and if Henderson doesn’t take this fight, he’d be taken out to fight Anderson. Stann, on the other hand, would potentially fight Vitor Belfort.

While Silva is the clear favorite to win this Saturday, we have seen in the past that it is never smart to schedule a match before another one is completed.

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