The UFC 151 headliner that never was finally happens at Submission Underground (SUG) 2 , but is it too late to matter?

I know there isn’t a single one of us who is not patiently awaiting the return of Jon Jones in Summer 2017. While we won’t be able to see Jon inside the Octagon for some time, this weekend he’ll make his first combat sports appearance since April at SUG 2 when he faces off against Dan Henderson.

SUG is a submission wrestling tournament founded by Chael Sonnen. It uses EBI rules, which essentially means no draws. That’s right. Either “Bones” or “Hendo” is tapping out.

This is great, right? We haven’t seen Jon Jones in so long. We already miss Dan Henderson after his retirement in early November. Plus, we were supposed to have seen this fight back in September of 2012. This is a recipe for success. Only, it isn’t.

While all that is true, there’s one glaring thing staring us right in the face: age. Dan Henderson is currently 46-years-old. He was considered a geriatric for MMA.

Jon Jones, on the other hand, is only 29. Nearly half his age. Now by no means am I saying Hendo was in his prime in 2012. He was a far shot from it then. But now, it’s such a forgone conclusion that putting him against Jones almost seems mean.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for Dan to come on Sunday and completely prove me wrong. He doesn’t even have to win to prove me wrong. All he has to do is look like vintage Hendo. But that’s the thing. He has to turn back the clocks to even make it competitive.

Henderson’s facing a guy arguably considered the greatest MMA athlete of all time, and yet, we consider this to be okay all because he isn’t getting punched in the head?

That seems like lunacy on its face and sadistic if you look any deeper. I know a dissenter only has to point at Dan Henderson and say, “Well he signed on, let him compete.” But that isn’t an argument when he’s potentially being choked unconscious. Chael Sonnen said it was the fight we all wanted to see and we’re finally getting it. Well, guess what? It’s too late for it to mean anything anymore. We’re given the match we never got, but it’s at a time we don’t want it.