Daniel Cormier chokes out Dan Henderson, then calls out Jon Jones
LAS VEGAS -- Daniel Cormier's march towards the UFC light-heavyweight championship continues. The undefeated Louisianan manhandled fighting great Dan Henderson, controlling him throughout before finishing with a third-round rear naked choke.
Henderson went out instead of tapping out, making it a technical submission at 3:53 of the third of the UFC 173 co-main event.
And wasting no time, he called out the champion, Jon Jones.
"No matter where you go boy, I'm coming," he said. "You better hurry because I'm getting better."
"I know nobody can wrestle me," he continued. "It doesn't matter. If I decide to take Jon Jones down 100 times, I'll take him down 100 times. This is my octagon."
He certainly made that case on Saturday, going 3-for-3 on takedowns and controlling Henderson on the mat for huge swatches of time. According to FightMetric stats, Cormier controlled him for 11:05 of the fight's time, including the third, when he eventually took Henderson's back and sunk in the finisher.
Cormier (15-0) also out-landed Henderson 131-12 overall, never letting the veteran uncork his dangerous "H-bomb" right hand. In significant strikes, it was 50-6 for Cormier, who has still yet to lose a single round in his pro career.
Now he'll wait to see if the UFC grants him a title shot at the winner between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, which ESPN reported on Saturday would likely take place on Aug. 30.
Meanwhile for the 43-year-old Henderson (30-12), who has lost four of his last five, he said he would not retire, and would consider moving down to middleweight for the remainder of his career.
"My plan was to beat DC," he said. "I'm just going to have to figure it out and move forward. I'm not done yet. I'm still going to compete. I love this sport. I absolutely love the support you [fans] give me and I'll continue to do it until I can't."
