Dan Henderson’s Camp Upset with Ronda Rousey Headlining UFC 157

UFC woman's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey

Hendo's camp disputes UFC 157 main event

It seems as though Dan Henderson's people don't like the fact that their man will be playing second fiddle to the Ronda Rousey at UFC 157.

The former Strikeforce and now UFC women's champion will be headlining the show with Liz Carmouche in the UFC's first ever foray into women's MMA. The co-main event features former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida taking on the former PRIDE champion Henderson.

Well, according to GracieMag one of Hendo's coaches at Team Quest, Gus Pugliese has taken issue with that main event via FaceBook.

Ronda is headlining UFC 157. Here is why I have a problem with that. Ronda is the champion of Strikeforce with 6 wins in less than 2 years of a mma professional career. That's impressive regardless of who she has fought. However, she is not the UFC champion yet. She still has to win this fight to get that belt. On the other hand, we have Hendo, who has also been the Strikeforce champion (never lost the belt), Pride champion in 2 different weight classes; he has been ranked #1 contender for the UFC 205 lbs, and #6 by many pound for pound best fighter. His resume is second to none, moreover, he is fighting a former champion, Lyoto Machida. Now why aren't they main event? Is Ronda a better market value? I don't know, but her fight could be quick as usual and we could be missing another historic 5 rds fight between 2 legends and possible hall of famers. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve to headline a UFC event, but certainly not this one.

Pugliese would then go on to provide a follow up statement to GracieMag:

Where I come from, there’s a pecking order for anything in life. I believe in paying dues. In this particular case, ‘Hendo’ and Machida paid their dues a long time ago. For someone new to come in and have a free ride just seems unfair to them and the whole sport they helped build.

In the past couple of weeks Dana White has gone on the defensive in when speaking of the main event by saying "If you're the champion, you're the headliner".

Pugliese most valid point comes when he speaks of the main event slot getting five rounds, while the co main event is relegated to only three rounds. It's a known fact that not one of Rousey's fights has left the 1st round, all with her arm raised in victory by armbar, making for a very short fight. While a five round Hendo-Machida fight could become a historic one, much like Henderson's epic battle with Shogun Rua at UFC 139.

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