Hendo: Brazilian fans say i’m going to die
“I’m excited to come down here and fight. I’m already used to hear the (Brazilian) fans say I’m going to die, so I want to come down here and prove them wrong.”
At UFC 139 in 2011, Dan Henderson beat Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in one of the best fight in the sports’ history. This capped a streak of beating Babalu, ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante, and Fedor.
Hendo has not won a fight since, dropping split decisions to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, before being knocked out by a surging Vitor Belfort in 77 seconds.
Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 38 in Natal, Brazil, Henderson aims to get one of the greatest MMA careers ever back on track. Everyone knows losses can be wins if they become lessons, but Hendo took a lesson from the win over Shogun.
“Not to punch myself out trying to finish him because he’s hard to finish,” Henderson told MMAFighting.com. “I’ll take my shots a little better.
However, the losses are not going to make Henderson play it safe.
“I don’t know if it affects my strategy at all,” said Hendo. “Just make sure to control the fight a little bit better, making sure I don’t end up on the bottom.”
“In my mind, I’m not coming off three losses, but it’s still three losses. I don’t want a fourth on that, for sure. In the first, Rashad, I felt should have gone other way. It was a close fight, it’s not like I was beat up for three fights. It’s a little bit extra motivation, I guess, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but it won’t change my strategy in the fight.”
“I’m excited to come down here and fight. I’m already used to hear the (Brazilian) fans say I’m going to die, so I want to come down here and prove them wrong (laughs).”
“I’m capable of finishing him, but it doesn’t always happens when you want, so I’m ready to go five rounds. I’m excited about it.”
Setting aside what Hendo hears Brazilian fans saying, what do you think is going to happen Saturday?
