Dan Henderson appears determined to depart on his own terms.
Despite losing four of his last five bouts and being 44 years old, the surefire Hall of Famer has expressed his desire to fight again in the Octagon, ideally Jan. 3 at UFC 182.
That’s according to a Thursday report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.
The former Olympic wrestler, two-division Pride champion and UFC 17 tournament winner has a resume longer than a normal person’s arm. But that doesn’t change the fact that he has fallen on hard times inside the cage.
His recent high-water mark was a 2011 decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua—a five-round war that was considered the best fight of the year and one of the top UFC bouts of all time.
But Henderson (30-12) didn’t see the inside of the chain link for 15 months after that, thanks in large part to a knee injury that led to his withdrawal from a light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones (and, eventually, the entire cancellation of UFC 151).
Hendo then went oh-for-2013, with losses to Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort, the last of which came when Belfort used a vicious head kick to hand Henderson his first career knockout loss.
In March, Henderson recovered somewhat by knocking out a diminished Rua in their rematch but was then choked unconscious by Daniel Cormier in May.
When asked by Helwani whether he would prefer to fight at middleweight or light heavyweight, Henderson responded that it “doesn’t matter.”
There was no immediate word on whether the UFC would grant his request, or who might serve as a possible opponent.
This summer, there was some discussion of a trilogy fight between Henderson and fellow legend Wanderlei Silva. That matchup was obviously and permanently scuttled following Silva’s retirement in September.
I’m good with it, what do you guys think? RT @luis_coutinho: @wandfc wants trilogy against (cont) http://t.co/QkRK0K9XlP
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) August 6, 2014
Henderson is the UFC’s oldest active fighter. Heavyweight Mark Hunt, 40, is second (not counting the recently suspended Cung Le, who is 42). In March, the UFC and Nevada State Athletic Commission banned the use of testosterone replacement therapy. Henderson, who had an exemption to legally use the treatment, said at the time that he did not want his longevity to be defined by TRT.
The oldest fighter to ever win a fight in the UFC is Randy Couture, who at age 47 submitted ex-boxer James Toney at UFC 118.
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