The legendary Dan Henderson had said before his last fight that win or lose, it was his last. He lost unanimously to UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. There was, however, a degree of controversy, not least because afterwards Hendo looked like he had finished a tough training session and The Count looked like he had finished a tough train crash.
Now in a blog for Champions.co Hendo says he is highly upset with the decision and could be lured back in the Octagon for a trilogy fight.
It’s been a pretty mellow week since UFC 204, but I still haven’t reconciled myself with the scoring the judges put forth for my fight with Michael Bisping. I finally got around to watching the video of it last night, and I’ll admit, I’m pretty pissed about it. I was going to say frustrated, but that doesn’t quite cover the range of feelings I’ve got right now.
He just wasn’t doing anything to me. He was throwing punches that weren’t really landing or were just barely touching me. Most of the punches I was throwing were meant to hurt him, and obviously, they did. There was a big difference in our significant strikes. I think the definition of that needs to be spelled out better, because he didn’t throw that many significant strikes.
He didn’t hurt me once.
The fans—his fans—knew who won that fight. It was very telling that I was in enemy territory, and the crowd was chanting my name after the fight.
If this fight had happened last year, and I hadn’t decided to make it my retirement fight, the fans would have demanded a trilogy. Hell, I’m pretty pissed off right now, and for the right money, I’m pretty sure I could be talked into the rubber match, not that I think he would accept another invitation to get beat up again. At the same time, I’m content with what I’ve done and in knowing, if only in my heart, that I won that fight.
Fighting provides highs like nothing else and thus is addicting. The roar of the crowd is addicting. Combining the two is so potently addicting that people hang on in the fight game until their brains are beaten out.
Fighting is addicting to watch, too.
Given that MMA so much emphasises non-concussive grappling, and lacks the standing-8 and 10-count that so brutally and unnecessarily prolong damage, it was hoped that the new sport could avoid the soul-stealing toll that boxing exacts. Unfortunately, yesterday the first diagnosis of CTE in MMA was announced.
The diagnosis is only conclusive postmortem. Jordan Parsons tragically died at just 25, the victim of a hit and run driver, who has since been arrested and faces trial. He was just 11-2 since his MMA debut in 2010, with only one KO loss. But he had CTE.
Dan Henderson is 46. He has three losses by KO. But to earn some of his wins, he suffered blows that would have KOed any ordinary fighter. He has been fighting since 1997, when Jordan Parsons was 7 years old. He doesn’t sound right in interviews.
Parson’s diagnosis was disclosed by Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who first discovered CTE in a professional football player, in 2003. Omalu’s life and research were chronicled in the award-winning film Concussion; he was played by actor Will Smith.
Mixed martial arts is also a dangerous sport, and it’s time for everyone to embrace the truth,” said Dr. Omalu yesterday. As a scientist, a physician, and a person of faith, I beg everybody involved with these sports to come together and identify the problems and find solutions.
Dan Henderson is a hero and a fighter. So of course he wants to fight on. It is thus incumbent on we his fans, and his management, and regulators, and his employer to say “Sir, you are 46, you having been fighting for over 19 years, you have thrilled the fans forever and a day with incredibly exciting wars, and it is a miracle if you came through that without brain damage. With the most profound respect, for the fans, for your family, for yourself, for the sport, please stay retired.”
