Jon Jones was supposed to fight Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in 2012, but the bout was famously forced to be scrapped when “Hendo” pulled out due to injury. After more than four years, the two men will finally get to face each other, but without strikes involved.
During Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour,Chael Sonnen revealed that Jones and Henderson will be headlining his Submission Underground event on December 11th. Sonnen’s announcement was made right after Jones was slapped with a one-year suspension by USADA for his failed drug test prior to UFC 200.
Sonnen claims he was not aware about the suspension before he made the announcement, and also believes it will not be affect the scheduled grappling match for the coming year.
“Grappling never has in the past, but the commission, if they ask for something, particularly if you’re making a deal, you want to do it their way,” Sonnen said. “So I imagine there could be some red tape there.”
“I don’t have a concern about it. But I suppose we have to go back to the other side and make sure there’s nothing missing there.”
Sonnen also revealed that it was Jones himself who suggested the match against Henderson, after looking at Michael Bisping and Nick Diaz as the initial opponent choices.
“We thought, well, you know what, that does make some sense. That’s the match that never happened, and we might be the only promotion to ever get these two guys together. So there it is.”
The 46-year-old Henderson is coming off a decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 204 in October. He announced his retirement right after the fight.
Sonnen’s interview begins at the 43:47 mark of the video.
