I’ve been covering MMA professionally for seven years, and I’ve been a fan since the early ’90s. I’ve been plugged in for a long, long time. And I can say confidently that the question that has been asked the most in the entire sport over the past five to 10 years is if Dan Henderson is going to retire. To put it into perspective, Hendo was a year away from turning forty at UFC 100, when he set off the H-Bomb on Michael Bisping.
Since then, and especially since his Strikeforce run, it seems as if every time he fights, the retirement talk pops back up. That’s usually what happens to fighters approaching forty, or those already over forty. Maybe it was his testosterone replacement therapy, but Henderson has always brushed off hanging up the gloves and moved onto his next fight.
Now, Hendo has had thirteen fights since he destroyed Bisping, and he’s gone 2-6 since returning to the UFC in 2011. As his UFC 199 fight against Hector Lombard approaches, the questions of if he’ll retire are here once again, and this time, Hendo is actually saying it’s probably time.
Henderson visited MMA Junkie Radio to talk his future.
“I’m definitely capable of keeping on and still competing at a high level, but I’m almost ready to retire, and depending on how things play out after this fight with negotiations, it could be my last. Or maybe I’ll still fight. I don’t know yet. I’m at that point where I’m about ready, but definitely, I know in my heart I’m still capable of doing it and if I do decide to keep going on I’ll make sure I do it well.”
This could also be taken as, “if the UFC pays me well enough, I’ll stick around.” But who wants to see Henderson fight monsters a few times a year? Maybe Scott Coker can work out some fun fights for him in Bellator.
(Via Fighters Only)