Anderson Silva put on one of the most impressive performances of the year in MMA on Saturday night with his destruction of Forrest Griffin at UFC 101, but Dan Henderson watched from cageside and came away from the fight convinced he's the man to beat Silva.
"Style-wise, it just wasn't a good fight for Forrest," Henderson told Mike Straka of Fox Fight Game.
Henderson, a former Olympic wrestler who fought Silva once before and had a very good first round against him before being submitted in the second, thinks he's the man to take the middleweight belt from the Spider.
"They've already announced I'm fighting him next," Henderson said. "I'm going to beat him up."
The UFC has made no official announcement that Henderson will get the next middleweight title shot against Silva, but the confidence with which Henderson says he's fighting Silva next would seem to indicate that the UFC brass has assured him he'll get a rematch with Silva. It's a fight that makes a lot of sense, given Henderson's status as the generally recognized No. 2 middleweight in the world, and given his knockoutof Michael Bisping at UFC 100. As for his claim that he'll beat Silva up? Well, I like Henderson's confidence, but I'm not so sure that I like his prediction. If Henderson gets into the Octagon with the same Silva who showed up against Griffin, he's going to have a long night if he gets the rematch he's seeking.
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