Let me apologize in advance – the article, however short, will take longer to read than the duration of the Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields match this Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Its not that its a failure on the part of the match makers. No, the fight needed to happen. Shields is the reigning Strikeforce World Middleweight champ and Hendo is one of the most decorated fight veterans in the game today. After negotiations failed with the UFC it only made sense that Scott Coker put Henderson against their top middleweight. It’s a win-win for Strikeforce. If Henderson wins than Strikeforce has solidified itself as a competitor with the UFC for talent in it’s ranks. Not trying to steal anything from Fedor, but until he starts competing with top tier talent in their prime, he will go down as nothing more than a glorified “celebrity” fighter. Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Rodgers? C’mon now. Anyway if Shields wins (gulp) then Coker has proven to the world that his fighters are indeed at the level of the UFC’s finest.

The fight might go two rounds. While Hendo has all the ability in the world to take Shields down at his leisure, he will probably opt to stand and keep his right hand cocked. When the time is right Hendo will use that hand to drop Shields into a deep, deep, sleep. Not taking anything away from Shields – he will join a long yet elite list of talented fighters that go to the ER for head x-rays after fighting Dan Henderson. To even stand across from Dan you have to be an “A-List” fighter. Shields is such a fighter.

I like both of these guys . Shields is got some slick BJJ but in the end I don’t think he possesses the strength, wrestling, striking, or chin to pose a threat to Dan Henderson.

The nice part about predictions like mine – it’s great when I’m proven wrong. THAT is why we love our sport. It does tend to be unpredictable.

Scottie Farrow is a Fightpros.com contributor. Follow Scottie on Twitter @yodade37