UFC 161 Preview: Evans vs. Henderson

Tomorrow night in Canada UFC 161 will be life and the main event of the evening will feature two light heavyweights clashing for the first time in an attempt to reestablish themselves as top contenders for the title.

Rashad Evans versus Dan Henderson

In Evan‘s and Henderson‘s last two outings both fights were considered disappointments.  Both men lost their respective bouts and both fights were, to put it nicely, not fun to watch.  However, these two guys are looking to reestablish themselves as title contenders so both will be extremely determine to pick up the victory on Saturday night.

Evans is arguably the most successful fighter to come out of The Ultimate Fighters.  He was the light heavyweight champion back in 2008 and is looking to recapture that glory.

Standing in his way in Dan Henderson.  Henderson is considered an MMA legend having made a mark in both PRIDE and the UFC.  Henderson is famous for being able to take a punch.  He is more known, however, for his dramatic one-punch knockouts .

Evans’ Strategy

Henderson has more power than Evans.  Evans is also aware that one punch from Hendo could put him down.  Evans is no stranger to power fighter, though, and will simply need to employ the same strategy he used to defeate Rampage Jackson.  He will need to use his speed to make quick strikes while avoiding Hendo’s big punch.  He will then need to wait for the opportunity to take Henderson to the ground where he can out wrestle him.  Evans will then win by submission or decision.

Henderson’s Strategy

Henderson will simply want to end this fight as early as possible as Evans has much more in his gas tank than the grizzled veteran Henderson.  Henderson goal will look for Evans to take one misstep so he can land a punch and then rain punches down on him until the ref stops the match.

Odds

The odds are fairly close in this fight with Evans having the slight advantage with a money line set at -140 according to Bovada.  Henderson’s line is set at +110.