Retirement Is On The Horizon For Dan Henderson
MMA legend Dan Henderson recently spoke with the media in LA to promote his upcoming fight with Lyoto Machida, which will serve as the co-main event of UFC on FOX 19.
Bellator MMA has seen that when bringing back MMA legends and putting them in a cage to fight each other will increase their TV ratings on Spike TV. Henderson was asked about the promotion doing that.
“Bellator is using these guys to make a little more noise, for people to speak them. They have tried to increase their squad of fighters with the best known and experienced guys and who do not have a contract with the UFC.”
“I think, if they want to engage with MMA, there are other ways to make money from it, as Royce Gracie does. He gives seminars worldwide, and probably did not have to fight. I must have been paid back. And it is not as old as the others.”
Henderson (32-13) is currently on a one-fight losing streak. In his last six bouts, he’s 3-3. He was knocked out in 1:17 by Vitor Belfort in November of 2013., but then rebounded with a win over Shogun Rua in the third round by TKO in March of 2014. He then lost back-to-back fights against Daniel Cormier at UFC 173 by third-round RNC and then was knocked out in the first round by Gegard Mousasi in January of 2015. He knocked out Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 68 in the first-round. He was finished by Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 77 by first round KO.
Henderson was asked about retirement and if he planned on doing it soon, Henderson had this to say:
“It’s a possibility I’ll be retiring soon. I don’t know – maybe after two or three more. Or maybe this is the last one. I have no idea. It all depends on how I feel after this fight.”
UFC on FOX 19 takes place on April 16th from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. The preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass with five fights starts at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT and the televised prelims on FOX will begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT with four fights. The main card will begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FOX.
