Hendo’s Last Stand

By Adam Martin

UFC on FOX 14 will undoubtedly be the last chance for Dan Henderson to remain relevant in the UFC, and if things don’t go the legend’s way, it may very well be the last time we see Henderson compete in the Octagon.

The 44-year-old nicknamed “Hendo” takes on Gegard Mousasi in the card’s co-main event in what is a must-win fight. Henderson has lost four of his last five fights – by far the worst skid of his near 20-year career — and in dropping down to middleweight for the first time in five years, it’s pretty clear Henderson is aware of how important this fight is to him. At his advanced age – Henderson is by far the oldest fighter in the UFC – it’s pretty incredible that Hendo is still competing, but he hasn’t looked anything like his former championship-caliber self in the last few years, and it seems like father time has finally caught up to him.

In 2011, Henderson knocked out Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce and parlayed that into a big deal with the UFC. He then defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139 in what many consider the greatest fight in UFC history. The win over Shogun earned Hendo a chance to fight Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title, but Hendo pulled out of UFC 151 with an injury and the event was cancelled.

The UFC was upset at Henderson for waiting until the last second to pull out of the ill-fated Jones fight at UFC 151, and instead of giving him another title shot they made him fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 to re-earn his shot at gold. Henderson lost a split decision to Machida, and then he followed that up with a second straight loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 161, also via split decision. Those fights were competitive, but two-straight losses meant Hendo had to work his way back up.

The UFC gave him a big opportunity against Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 32, but Henderson was brutally knocked out for the first time in his storied career. While Henderson had been rocked and dropped at numerous points throughout his career, he had never been KO’d the way Belfort ended his night, and at that point many felt it could have been the end.

But Hendo turned away father time at UFC Fight Night 38, overcoming two knockdowns against Shogun in the pair’s rematch to brutally KO the Brazilian in the third round with his patented “H-bomb.” It was viewed at the time as a reaffirmation that Hendo could still compete with the top light heavyweights in the world, but after seeing Shogun get KO’d by Ovince St-Preux in his last fight, in hindsight maybe the knockout win for Hendo said more about Shogun’s decline than anything else.

Following the Shogun win, the UFC asked Henderson to fight Daniel Cormier on short notice at UFC 173, and in a fight where he was a much smaller man, he was absolutely dominated for nearly three full rounds until he was mercifully finished late in the third. Getting outmuscled by a bigger man convinced Henderson to drop back down to 185 lbs, and he returns to the weight class this weekend at UFC on FOX 14.

However, he isn’t getting an easy fight.

Mousasi, his opponent, is 15 years younger and is a dangerous, cerebral fighter known for his highlight-reel finishes. This is a great matchup for the fans, but a bad one for Henderson, and it’s no surprise he’s a huge underdog in this fight. At the same time, though, it’s a risk worth taking for Hendo because if he wins, he’ll immediately jump into title contention at 185 lbs, or he could even put himself in position to get a rematch with Anderson Silva. But he needs to win for those opportunities.

If he loses, though, that would mark Henderson’s fifth loss in six fights. And if he gets brutally knocked out again, it’s possible the UFC could cut him, because while he is a name fighter, he also has a big contract. Should he be released there’s no doubt Bellator would be interested, so the UFC might keep him just because of that angle, but from a competitiveness angle, a fifth loss in six fights would give the UFC every justification to release him.

I don’t think Henderson will retire after this fight, but if he gets knocked out again, there will be calls from fans and media for him to retire. Knowing Hendo, he will do things his own way, but I’m hoping the tail end of his career doesn’t go way south the way a guy like Jens Pulver’s did, because right now, there’s no doubt it’s going in the wrong direction.

Perhaps we will see the old Hendo this weekend and he will KO Mousasi in old-school fashion. Or perhaps he gets knocked out. I can’t predict what will happen, but either way, this is the fight that will tell us where Hendo stands in his career now, and fans should watch because this could be the last time we see one of the best of all time fight inside the Octagon.