Dan Henderson might be 44 but he’s got fights lined up for years.
Henderson signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC early in 2014 and reportedly took a decent pay cut to stick with the promotion following an 0-3 2013 campaign.
There was also the matter of no longer being able to enjoy Testosterone Replacement Therapy due to its ban, but those concerns seem quelled for now.
Scoring a 28 second knockout over a (then) ranked middleweight like Tim Boetsch will do that.
Now, Henderson wants to hammer out some of the dents in his Hall of Fame resume.
“There’s probably two or three guys at middleweight I think the fans would like to see me fight,” Henderson told soon-to-be UFC Hall of Famer Frank Trigg. “Rematches with Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and I’d like to fight Gegard Mousasi because I didn’t really get a chance to fight him the first time.”
A fellow former TRT patient, Belfort was most recently drubbed by middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC 187 in May. TKO’d in the first round, Belfort hadn’t competed without a testosterone use exemption [TUE] since his first-round KO loss to then-champ Anderson Silva at UFC 126 in 2011.
“You know, it’d be a little bit different fighting him in the states,” Henderson said of Belfort. “Rather than where his doctor is the head of the head of the athletic commission.
“I think we’ve seen changes already in Vitor.”
Henderson faced Silva at UFC 82 in 2008 to unify the UFC middleweight title and PRIDE welterweight [83kg/183lbs] title. In a ‘Fight of the Night,’ Silva submitted Henderson via rear-naked choke in the second round.
“Anderson Silva, I think, was a surprise to a lot of people,” Henderson said of Silva’s failed drug test for performance enhancing drugs. “A little bit. Who knows what he was taking when he was champ. I have no idea but I think obviously he’s been doing something to get caught this last time. Who knows how he’ll bounce back.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
‘Truth-talkers.’ Chuck Mindenhall spends the day alongside Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
‘He’s always joking around and laughing.’ According to a teammate, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is back to training in Albuquerque and ‘being positive.’
‘Scary.’ Chad Mendes‘ coach says the featherweight contender will finish ‘court jester’ Conor McGregor in the second round of the UFC 189 main event. ‘Chad will rock him, and then tap him.’
‘It’s inappropriate.’ Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras says several fighters will move up in weight class due to the recent IV ban by USADA.
From the Inside. UFC Middleweight Josh Samman walks us through his personal experience at UFC 181 last December.
MEDIA STEW
UFC 189 embedded episodes 3 and 4.
Countdown to UFC 189: Chad Mendes vs. Conor McGregor.
Chael says McGregor was over 170lbs last week up at ESPN.
Highlights from RFA 27.
Chris Weidman explains why he was picking McGregor against Jose Aldo.
Worst broken noses in MMA history. Probably NSFW.
Long watches.
…
#WHOACAST 45: The Posterboy Show Episode One
…
TWEETS
Should include wrassling.
We are about to change the game. Once again! https://t.co/vunNfQgKa1
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 5, 2015
Happy holidays.
MERICA! #Repost @ufc with repostapp. ??? #UFC189 lights up the Las Vegas Strip. We’re 1 week away!… https://t.co/T6JmC0mQsQ
— chad mendes (@chadmendes) July 5, 2015
BREAKING: I love beer
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) July 4, 2015
Shark week mother fuckers!!!
— Ross Pearson (@RossTheRealDeal) July 5, 2015
Beef.
Little girl, Forget about me and go train because I’m working hard. You keep talking about me because you know you lost to me. #Imreal
— Claudia Gadelha (@ClaudiaGadelha_) July 5, 2015
You should have just quit after you had your neck fusion because you will be hurt after Im through with you @alphafemalewar @InvictaFights
— Amber Brown (@TheBully505) July 6, 2015
Congrats.
I want to send a big shout out to @reebok for the deal we signed yesterday!! I’m grateful for my… https://t.co/Ecs5Tf4CJ9
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) July 3, 2015
Not to brag but I did win an award for “dramatic acting” pic.twitter.com/BPq4wYK44F
— Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin) July 5, 2015
Get well soon.
Yesterday I had an apointment with Dr. Shin and surgery was necessary. So today we had the… http://t.co/uF5NO2B49H pic.twitter.com/NwFlN2Iy7y
— Joanna Jedrzejczyk (@joannamma) July 3, 2015
Check it out.
. @NateDiaz209 on the line talking UFC 189 and what fight he was offered (and then not offered) for that event. http://t.co/GKFh3eC7fr
— Chael Sonnen (@sonnench) July 5, 2015
Be careful.
Spiderman jumpin in #havasu. #coppercanyon #freeballin http://t.co/oh2dCcGSxg pic.twitter.com/kblZAqZfbC
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) July 3, 2015
Eu só queria ir pra casa! Hahaha! . I was just trying to go Home!hahaha!! #thailand #kickboxer @… https://t.co/AVhGgFmY9N
— Fabricio Werdum (@FabricioWerdum) July 6, 2015
Outstanding.
Ninja shit http://t.co/cOuBNwEPIB
— nick diaz (@nickdiaz209) July 6, 2015
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced this weekend (July 3-5 2015)
Misha Cirkunov vs. Sean O’Connell at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Oliveira
Marcio Alexandre Jr. out, George Sullivan vs. Dominic Waters at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Nikita Krylov at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Oliveira
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via Person Unknown.
Why Chad’s Wrestling Won’t Work Against Conor (Conor’s Hips)
Most MMA journalists think that Mendes will easily beat Conor using his wrestling.
…And come next week, we’ll see a ton of “predictions” from journalists on every MMA web site talking about Chad’s wrestling pedigree versus Conor’s lack of history facing wrestlers.
…And their conclusions will all be the same…..’grappler’ will beat ‘striker’, yada yada yada.
There’s nothing even remotely insightful about these bland predictions.
As for my superior prediction, here it is…
LnP only works on guys who have hips which aren’t fast or powerful, but in this rare case, Conor is a rare breed of physical specimen who’s got exceptionally fast and powerful hips along with exceptional movement ability.
…
Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.