Henderson: Boetsch KO showed I can still compete
Dan Henderson: “(It was) kind of something to prove to myself as well as fans or anyone else who had doubt that I’m still able to compete with the top guys in the sport…”
Dan Henderson was a big underdog coming into his main event with Tim Boetsch, but knocked out his young adversary in seventy seconds of the first round. For the aging Henderson, it was a pivotal moment showing him that he could still compete at a high level:
“It was very gratifying,” Henderson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “(It was) kind of something to prove to myself as well as fans or anyone else who had doubt that I’m still able to compete with the top guys in the sport, you know? I know that Tim Boetsch wasn’t ranked as high as some other guys that I’ve fought, but he’s dangerous and I don’t think he’s been stopped like that before, so it’s nice to finish him like that.”
Boetsch had never before been stopped by strikes as a middleweight, but the dynamite in Henderson’s right hand continues to defy Father Time.
With the win, Henderson’s name has now propelled back into the top-15 of the UFC’s media-generated middleweight rankings — an impressive feat considering the American has been going strong in this game for nearly two decades and counting.
“My age is getting up there, and I know that I’ve had to change certain things with training, just to make sure I’m still doing the right things with training, with learning,” Henderson said.