Dan Henderson vs Daniel Cormier announced for UFC 173

Henderson vs Cormier set to decide the future number 1 contender

by Ben Heather @benheather

The UFC twitter account got everyone excited this afternoon when it tweeted that Dana White would today announce some "Breaking News" on Sports Center on ESPN in the states. As always this started all kinds of rumours being posted on Twitter but not long after all was revealed as Dana announced that Dan Henderson would meet Daniel Cormier as the Co Main Event of UFC 173.

Both men come in to the fight off the back of knockout victories, Dan Henderson knocked out Shogun Rua one month ago today and Daniel Cormier easily finished Pat Cummins back at UFC 170 in February.

Henderson (30-11 MMA 7-5 UFC) ended a three fight losing streak when he came back from the brink to knock out Shogun Rua in a fight he was easily losing. However, when you have the power Henderson does in his fists and manage to land a H-Bomb in a fight it changes everything.

Can Henderson get back to a title shot, which he already had until he had to pull out of the fight with Jones at the ill fated UFC 151, the event which never actually took place. The big thing to remember for this fight though is it will be the first time in a few years where Henderson will not have TRT to help him. What impact will this have on his game, only time will tell.

Cormier (14-0 MMA 3-0 UFC) comes in to this fight knowing a win will get him a shot at Jon Jones, who he has been chasing to fight ever since he came over to the UFC.

Since joining the UFC Cormier has improved in every performance. His first fight wasn't the best for the fans to watch but he got the better of Frank Mir. Next up for Cormier was a potentially tricky fight with Roy Nelson, again it may not have been the best performance for the fans but Cormier easily won the fight.

His most recent fight should have been against Rashad Evans as Cormier dropped down to light heavyweight for the first time, unfortunately Evans got injured and on short notice the fight was scrapped. That was when Pat Cummings stepped in, a former wrestling partner of Cormier who had talked his way in to the UFC to fight on about a weeks notice. Cormier however didn't ease up and cruise in the fight, he destroyed Cummings in just over a minute.

Fighting Henderson will be a first test for Cormier at light heavyweight and will be the name he needs to help justify a title shot.

With Gustafsson next in line for the winner of Jones vs Teixeira I think the more realistic option will be a fight between the winner of this fight and the winner of the Phil Davis vs Anthony Johnson fight this weekend at UFC 172. I know Dana said that the winner of this will be the next number one contender but that will involve sitting on the sidelines for a good 6 months, so I think one more fight will be required for either man before they get a shot at the title.