UFC 161 headliner Dan “Hendo” Henderson visits The Power MMA Show
Jun 16, 2013, 12:51 AM | Updated: 12:59 am
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to catch up with ageless legend Dan “Hendo” Henderson for an Arizona exclusive one-on-one interview that ran Saturday afternoon on The Power MMA Show, on Arizona Sports 620 and here on ArizonaSports.com.
“I feel good,” the former ASU and two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler told me, heading into Saturday night’s
crucial fight against former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans at UFC 161 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
“I had a great training camp — no injuries — and I’m excited to get back in there,” Henderson said.
At 42, feeling 100% healthy is a huge advantage for ‘Hendo’ against the versatile, athletic Evans, himself looking to come back from a bad loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueria. Henderson knows Evans is coming to fight and he’s ready for him.
“I’m prepared to stand and brawl with him and defend takedowns, as well,” Henderson said. “I might be a little slower than I was 10 years ago. But I’m a little smarter so I think that kind of makes up for the age, getting older.”
After an untimely knee injury forced him to back out of his coveted title shot vs. Jon “Bones” Jones last September and subsequent loss by decision to another former champ Lyoto Machida knocked him out of title contention, the former multiple-time Pride and Strikeforce champion knows how much is at stake against Evans. The winner shoots right back up to the top of the division and the loser drops out of the picture, which would be a near-disaster at Dan’s age.
“It’s definitely a goal of mine to get that UFC title and I still feel like I need to finish some business with Jon Jones,” Henderson said. “First, I need to perform the way I can against Rashad and beat him up. I have no control over anything outside the cage. I have to do my job in the cage.”
Not many fighters have been better at that job than Henderson. His 39 wins include Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, ‘Shogun’ Rua and Fedor Emelianenko to name just a few, but he’s far from ready to start reminiscing just yet.
“Maybe when I’m done, I’ll look back at what I’ve done,” Henderson said. “I’ve got about two more years in me, five or six more fights. I feel like I’m able to beat anybody out there on any given day. I still have goals in this sport. I’m not done yet.”
And why not? It’s just over two months until his 43rd birthday, and his fight game has shown absolutely no signs of decline. Neither has his confidence. Some people are just built different from the rest of us, and Dan “Hendo” Henderson continues to be one of them.
