Dan Henderson Discusses His Big Knockout Win at UFC 199, Being Close to Retirement

Speaking at UFC 199’s post-fight press conference (via MMAjunkie), UFC fighter Dan Henderson discussed his stunning second-round knockout of Hector Lombard. Below are some highlights from the presser.

Henderson on loving MMA: “I love doing this though, and I love getting paid to do it. For me along the way, it’s been about the challenge. Every one opponent is a different challenge – sometimes bigger – but just different. As I’ve gotten older, it’s a different type of challenge. I feel good; I feel I’m still capable of competing with the top guys. It’s more about the other things I want to do in life. … I’m close to being ready to being done and being OK with it. I’ve been OK with it for a while. If I look back at what I’ve done, I’m OK with it and feel good about myself, as well. But we’ll see. I’m not going to make any decisions now. We’ll see what happens and what my options are.”

Henderson on getting hurt by Lombard early: “It’s always nicer not to get hurt. I know that I felt like I hurt him a little bit. He came in and popped me, and next thing I know I was on the ground. I was aware the whole time on the ground. Obviously I said, ‘(Expletive).’ I knew I needed to recover and try to get back up. He kept on me, but he didn’t hurt me to where I didn’t know what was going on, but he had me in trouble for a while.”

Henderson on potentially facing retirement: “I don’t want to make any decisions emotionally, but knowing in my mind there’s a possibility that might have been the last one, it was a good one to have that. All my kids, everybody were able to come. It was a little emotional, but it all depends on what my options are afterward. Obviously I’m going to need a paycheck for a little while, but we’ll see what happens.”