Is this Hendo’s swan song? Will a loss here put him on the downward spiral we’ve seen so many others take? The 42-year-old Dan Henderson has nothing left to prove, and we know he wants his UFC title shot, the one thing that has eluded him all these years in a career filled with Pride title belts, Strikeforce championships, huge wins over legends and even a UFC tournament win from back in the day (1997 to be exact). But the clock is ticking faster than ever. Hendo took a year off to face Jon Jones, then the knee injury that cost the world UFC 151 set Hendo back even further. A split-decision loss to Lyoto Machida set him back further, and even though he’s ranked #3 in the world right now, Rashad Evans can send Hendo off to retirement.
But then again, Hendo doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would go out on a loss. Either way, tonight’s main event may not hold the spectacle of a Chael Sonnen hype-train and the lack of crap talk between these two legends is admirable, but there is still a lot on the line, and Hendo plans on bringing it.
“I knew it was possible a title shot wouldn’t come around again, but it wasn’t like I got my ass kicked, or that anything happened in the fans’ opinion that remotely reflected a real loss. It’s a loss on my record, but I didn’t consider it a huge setback.”
“I’m excited to get out there against a guy I can push the pace on“ I’m completely healthy now.”
“I’m sure his training got remotivated by those losses, I’m sure he’ll be ready to go.”
“I still have goals. It’s not about the money. My goals are what motivate me and I believe I’m still capable of getting at my goals, but it all depends on how this fight goes.”
“The only thing I can control is what I do in the cage, and in there I intend to beat the hell out of him.”
This fight is going to either be awesome, or like the Lyoto fight. I’m stressed already.
