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Hendo title route could be cleared by Davis/Evans bout

Dan Henderson won an epic with Shogun Rua © Getty Images

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Phil Davis has opened the door to a potential Dan Henderson v Jon Jones light-heavyweight title fight, after offering to fight Rashad Evans.

Davis and Evans had been scheduled to fight at UFC 133, but a knee injury forced Davis off the card. However, the 205-pounder is close to returning to full fitness.

Doubts surround the immediate future of Evans, himself recovering from injury. Suga Rashad has long been the division's No. 1 contender, but he must await the outcome of Jones v Lyoto Machida in December to discover whether he is next to fight for the title.

Muddying the waters is Henderson, who won an epic contest with Mauricio Shogun Rua at UFC 139. As Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion, Henderson seems a natural challenger to Jones, but he is seemingly behind Evans in the queue for a title shot.

Davis' offer to fight Evans would solve a problem for the UFC, allowing Henderson to ride his wave of momentum into a champion v champion clash with Jones - should Jones beat Machida.

"That may be a fight that makes sense," Davis said of Evans to MMA Weekly. "He's still a top five guy, definitely one of the best guys in the world, we'll see what happens.

"If that fight gets made, that's still pretty cool. I'd like that. I personally don't know or care, because the great thing about me is you can give me somebody in the top five, or the top ten, or you can give me somebody not in the top ten, and I'm still confident that I'm going to win regardless.

"If you want to pay me not to fight someone not in the top ten, cool. Let me know what's next. I don't make the decisions and I don't pretend that I do."

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