Issue 149

December 2016

Dan Henderson was denied a Hollywood ending to his MMA career, but he's still one of the greatest fighters of all time.

UFC Middleweight

Alias: Hendo

Team: Team Quest

Record: 32-15-0.

So the fairytale finish didn’t quite get the judges’ support at UFC 204, but Dan Henderson ended almost two decades of elite MMA to rapturous applause in Manchester, UK.

The UFC title may have eluded him, but his illustrious Hall of Fame career ended with a performance of brutality that left Michael Bisping with scars he’ll carry for years to come.

What is your career’s crowning achievement?

Looking back, winning and holding two belts at the same time in Pride was something that was a huge achievement and, I guess, still is.

Nobody has done anything like it since. The more time goes by the bigger that achievement gets.

Was that the pinnacle?

Probably. Beating Wanderlei (Silva) was a pretty big moment. It was a rematch as well as for the Pride middleweight belt. I already had the welterweight belt, so it was a big deal.

I also won the Rings King of Kings Tournament back in 1999 – a 32-man tournament, beating three guys in one night too.

That was also a bit special. Those were my toughest nights. I’ve had a good career. Just a shame I never got the UFC gold to complete the set.

After doing this for nearly 20 years, did you get emotional in your last fight camp?

I worked real hard in this fight camp knowing it was my last. I never got all emotional about it, I never sat back at any point to reflect on the journey I’ve been on. I just focused on this fight with Bisping.

Now it’s over I’m a little disappointed in how it went. I’m not disappointed with myself – I’m completely satisfied with what I did in the fight – but I worked hard to get the victory.

Were you surprised by Bisping’s approach?

Props to Bisping for coming forward throughout the fight. He kept very active and he worked hard. His game plan surprised me though. I was impressed that he kept pressing like that.

What are your thoughts on Bisping’s recent run, beating Anderson Silva and Luke Rockhold?

He has always been a tough fighter and very well-rounded.

He always pushes forward. He had some bad losses here and there when he was really close to title shots along the way. He had a nice break with Chris Weidman getting injured and I think Rockhold was just overlooking him.

Bisping went in there and did his job and looked good doing it. So I was always expecting a guy with the confidence of a UFC champion. So even though I beat him before, I made sure I never took him lightly.

How close did you come to beating Bisping again?

The first round, it was almost finished, real close, and I thought that was obviously a 10-8 round. I thought I won the first two rounds. He won the third and fourth and I wanted to make sure I won the fifth.

I thought I did that. I went out and took him down, landed some decent shots on him. Honestly, I didn’t feel hurt once in the whole fight with the exception of one leg kick that hurt my thigh a little, but that was about the only thing I felt.

It was unfortunate. Obviously, by looking at him, he felt some of the shots I hit him with.

So you thought you won a decision?

That’s what I was thinking and I’ve seen nothing since to change my mind either. That’s what was going through my head during the fight. I didn’t want to end up with a draw, I wanted to make sure I won the fight and wanted to win that fifth round. I believe I did just that.

Does the decision leave you bitter about your final fight?

Not quite. I think I’m still frustrated with the fight itself but I think it’s more frustrating knowing that was the last time and I won’t be able to make up for that loss.

I know there is a possibility of losing in any fight, but it’s just more frustrating when you feel like you did enough out there to win and it didn’t go your way and then that was the last one. I’ll be able to live with it though.

Are you satisfied enough with the loss to walk away?

I feel like before this fight I accomplished enough in the sport and was satisfied with that. But obviously there was one more thing I wanted to do and really worked my ass off during training camp and thought I was ready to get it done.

So, was that UFC 204 main event really your last fight?

Unfortunately, that was the last one. It will have to be an ‘L’ on my record but I left it all in there and did everything I needed to do to win… Unfortunately, everybody didn’t see it that way.

You were recently listed as the most tested athlete in the UFC. Did that surprise you?

I didn’t realize that. They should probably single someone out who has changed physically over the years.

I feel like my body has been the same my whole career, other than getting a little bit older and grayer.

I haven’t ballooned up. I haven’t shrunk after I was off TRT. It’s one of those things. I’m the one that was the primary guy that was asking for this level of testing for more than six years. As a wrestler, I was subjected to that. I am happy it’s now infused into the UFC.

After almost two decades in MMA, are you surprised at how far the sport has come?

Well, it wasn’t evenught of as a sport by most people when I started. It’s really evolved now.

It’s the toughest sport out there. There’s no other sport that other athletes respect as much as MMA fighters. Now we have all these guys coming into MMA from a young age and it’s still growing.

I’ll be involved in it for the rest of my life and I’m as excited as anybody to see what happens next.

DANA WHITE'S TRIBUTE

Can you believe Dan Henderson’s performance at UFC 204?

I tweeted during the fight that he’s built out of leather and rock, man. The guy is so durable, so tough, was in the fight the whole time.

I never pictured that thing being a competitive five-round fight. I thought Henderson might catch him early, like he did, or Bisping would just pick him apart and be too fast for him throughout the fight.

It was a damn good fight.

He’s 46. I’m 47. I can barely get on a treadmill in the morning, let alone go in and fight five-round main events in another country.

Dan Henderson is an absolute warrior, one of the toughest guys to ever do it, and he’s still scary at this age and everything. If he didn’t want to retire today, he’s still scary to people in that division.