After 47 fights spread over nearly 20 years, Dan Henderson’s MMA career is finally over.
Hendo failed to wrest the UFC middleweight belt from Michael Bisping’s grasp at UFC 204, but he ran the Brit desperately close before falling to a unanimous points defeat.
He was satisfied to have left nothing in the Octagon, but there was a sense of disappointment that could still be felt when the veteran returned to speak to the waiting press at the Manchester Arena.
After the judges awarded the fight to Bisping – scoring the fight 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 – many eagle-eyed spectators saw Henderson turn towards UFC President Dana White for a few quiet words.
And fortunately we haven’t had to wait too long to find out what was said.
“I think we were talking about the scoring and he was a little surprised [the first round] wasn’t a 10-8 round,” Henderson told the media after the fight.
“It’s just unfortunate that it didn’t come out as a W and I’m disappointed.”
Henderson dominated the early exchanges but was unable to force the result, and once Bisping was allowed back into the fight he made no mistake, grinding his opponent down as the 25 minutes wore on.
And, while Henderson admitted he found the result tough to take, he was gracious in defeat before confirming this would indeed be his final fight, joking that he’d now be able to spend more time acting as an Uber driver to his children.
When quizzed on who he thought might be a suitable next opponent for Bisping, the Californian suggested the outcome of the upcoming bouts between Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza, and between Chris Weidman and Yoel Romero, would decide who next takes on The Count.
“The winner [of one of those fights] should probably get a title shot, but it all depends on how the two performances go when they win those fights.”
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