Don’t tell Dan “Hendo” Henderson he’s 44 years old.
Don’t remind him he’s lost four of his last five bouts, two in brutal fashion.
Don’t tell him it seems increasingly obvious the sport is passing him by.
He won’t have it.
“The gold is still the goal,” Henderson told Bleacher Report. “It always has been.”
Strolling into his UFC on Fox 14 matchup against No. 8-ranked UFC middleweight Gegard Mousasi, Henderson’s focus and will remains intact.
“I’m not going anywhere quite yet,” Henderson said. “We’ll see. Right now, I’m focused on getting through the next four fights on my contract, then we’ll figure it out.”
What else should we expect from Hendo at this point?
The dude is a manimal, the type of fighter who can get pummeled for three rounds, choked unconscious and still bounce back to life with a smile and an “Aww, shucks. He beat me…” attitude that defies logic and reason.
After absorbing arguably the worst beating of his career against Daniel Cormier at UFC 173, Henderson took the mic post-fight and never wavered. Retirement was an option, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan guided Henderson to the check box indicating “yes, please.”
Henderson declined. He even made light of it.
“I’m still going to compete,” Henderson told Rogan shortly after joking about a failed sabotage against Cormier days before the fight.
Even now, months after the defeat, Henderson jokes about the fight that saw him thrown, battered and beaten like never before.
“I learned that Cormier is big and heavy,” Henderson said. “I shouldn’t have let him get on top of me. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t happy about it. I was bummed out with my performance and how the fight went, but there’s nothing I can do about it right then to change it.”
There’s that “Aww, shucks” attitude. There’s that veteran composure.
Henderson does not relent—even in defeat—because it’s just not something he does. It’s not something he’s done since beginning his career as a professional mixed martial artist in 1997, and it’s unlikely he’ll change Saturday in Sweden or any time thereafter.
He is who he is, and who he is exhibits nothing but grit, determination and toughness inside the cage.
He’s built his career around a powerful wrestling base, a monstrous right hand and shock-absorbent chin, and he intends to move forward using these tools to his full advantage against Mousasi.
“I haven’t forgotten how to wrestle, I just feel like my best way to finish fights is standing up and punching guys really hard,” Henderson said. “Obviously, I’m going to be trying to knock him out, but I want to make sure I win every round along the way, so, yeah, I’m sure I’ll be putting him on his back at some point.”
His confidence is unyielding. The belief that the finish is always just one solid connection away never fades.
As the oldest fighter on the UFC’s current roster, per MMAjunkie.com, Henderson very much represents a classic case of an old dog who refuses to learn new tricks.
His skill set is the same as it was in the year 2000. He punches hard. He wrestles well. He eats punches with a chuckle and a smirk.
And he still hasn’t learned to roll over.
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