A rumored light heavyweight bout between former champions is now official as former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson will face former UFC champion Rashad Evans at UFC 161.
UFC officials confirmed the bout on early Tuesday evening and the fight will take place on the main card, which will air on pay-per-view.
Henderson (29-9) was recently defeated Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of UFC 157 by split decision and it was his first defeat since 2010.
Prior to his fight with Machida, he had won four in a row and three of those wins came by TKO/KO. The fight at UFC 157 was his first fight in over a year and he stated after the fight that he wanted to be a more active fighter in 2013.
Evans (17-3-1) has lost back to back fights with the defeats coming against Jon Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. He lost both fights by unanimous decision and was criticized for his performance in both fights.
Prior to this recent losing streak, he had won four in a row which included wins over former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz. Five of his last six fights have gone the distance and the only time he did not go the distance was against Ortiz at UFC 133.
UFC 161 takes place on June 15th from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg and the UFC is expected to announce the main event in the very near future.