Dan Henderson on Jon Jones “He’s young and sloppy”

While describing UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to media last weekend, No. 1 contender Dan Henderson used many of the terms we’ve grown accustomed to hearing — lengthy, unorthodox, devastating elbows.

He may have added a brand new one, though: sloppy.

“He’s young and sloppy a little bit,” Henderson said. “He still has a lot to learn, technically.”

“My focus is to win every round, not to land the ‘H-bomb,’” Henderson said. “I’ll make sure I win every round and if I hit him good along the way, hopefully it knocks him out.

“A lot of people who think [Jones is unbeatable] have never fought before. They see what he’s done from the outside. He’s done well with his style but I feel like he’s never fought anybody like me. [My style] really goes well against someone like him.”

Henderson earned his shot at Jones with a taxing decision win over Mauricio Rua in November, arguably one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Prior to that, he had recorded three straight finishes, including a first-round knockout against all-time great Fedor Emelianenko and a third-round finish over Rafael Cavalcante for the Strikeforce 205-pound belt.

None of those, however, were perceived to pose the challenge to Henderson as Jones does. The 24-year-old champion has run through four former UFC champions in his last four fights: Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.

Henderson acknowledges Jones’s awkwardness is part of what has made him great, but says it leaves plenty of openings to expose.

Dan Henderson feels he can exploit Jon Jones’ awkward style.

“I’ll never go into a fight or accept a fight if I didn’t think I could beat the other guy up,” Henderson said.

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