Dan Henderson recently sat down with Spencer Lazara of MMAInterviews.tv, and after coming off a huge victory over Fedor Emelianenko, had plenty to say on what it meant to beat a legend in the sport.
“It’s definitely up there, if not the top one, it’s definitely top two or three (most satisfying wins) just because I’ve been a fan of his: admire how he fights, like, how aggressive and dangerous he is and what he’s done in his career, it’s always sweeter to beat somebody like that.”
Henderson finished Emelianenko in 4:12 in their July bout. The finish was shocking as in a span of five seconds, Henderson went from on his back with Emelianenko dropping bombs to Henderson getting back position, during which, he landed a thunderous right that dropped Emelianenko to the canvas with Henderson following up with a flurry of fists that got him the victory.
The stoppage was criticized for being a little premature, but Henderson thought that “it was definitely a good stoppage from the get go.”
“I think (referee) Herb Dean feels bad because she really should’ve aggressively stopped it, when he first stepped in to stop it, when Fedor was out. He (Dean) kinda barely bumped into me, a little bit, pushing me off the side and I really didn’t know that’s what was going on.”
Henderson also offered comments on another recent performance, one by the UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Although Henderson didn’t get the chance to watch the event, he heard that Silva put on an impressive showing against Yushin Okami. Henderson was happy to hear that the exciting skill that Silva possesses is back in the Octagon.
“That’s the Anderson Silva that a lot of people like to see and are fans of, not when he runs around and doesn’t try to fight. It kind of wastes time throughout the whole fight and it really disrespects the guy he’s fighting and the fans when he does that.”
Henderson has expressed interest in coming back to the UFC and sees himself fighting best in the light-heavyweight division and unify the UFC and Strikeforce titles.
“I think I’m most comfortable at 205, and I think the biggest fight the UFC would make money on and the fans would want to see, I think would be me against the winner of (Jon) Jones and Rampage (Jackson) and that would be a fight to unify the titles.”
He mentioned his status with the UFC and commented on how quickly a deal could come together, possibly for the UFC on FOX card.
“I think (UFC on FOX has) been mentioned but who knows.” said Henderson, “We still have to come up with a deal, there’s only been one talk. Things like that could happen quickly (or) take a couple months.”
Henderson said he would like to fight “somewhere between November and December.”
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