Dan Henderson is a bad mother mother! Fearless in his approach to fighting Fedor, he utilized the strategy that fighters have used against Wanderlie Silva and Chuck Liddell, the strategy of throwing punches straight down the middle despite a fire storm of haymakers coming from every angle with intent to do harm.
The single idea is easy in it’s concept, I will stand here, I will hit you before you can hit me and I will not budge when you start landing. Anyone can do it, however none of us will risk it. Many men have stood in the center and attempted to play rock’em sock’em robots but when the punches started landing the game plan starts changing. Somehow, Dan tasted what could have been defeat and rather than buckle from the pressure he resumed his course. The little train that could derailed the mighty steam engine that crushed the world. And with it, put himself in a position where it’s going to be awfully hard to get himself excited about any fight in his future.
And for Fedor, was there any way for him to win outside a questionable stop? I was at the fight, I personally felt while yes he could have continued, I felt that within 20 seconds it would have ended in the same fashion. He went out, for a second didn’t have the energy to get his hands underneath him and do a push up (Henderson dropped weight on him, so I imagine it would be hard for anyone) he then opted to roll to his back, and put his arms straight out like a Zombie doing the horizontal shuffle. Had he covered his face, I’d argue more in favor of the early stoppage, but due to the thriller dance defense, Henderson would have zoned in and threw those shots at Fedor’s jaw and it would have been a worse conclusion. The kind of results that leave people on the ground for a few seconds longer than the average viewer has the stomach for.
The fight in and of itself though, was a lose lose for Fedor anyway. Had he walked out, threw one punch and knocked Henderson out, wouldn’t everyone had said he was picking on smaller guys? Had that single punch not obliterated Dan Henderson and turned him into a goo similar to snot or a salted slug no one would have been impressed.It would have been a volley of “I told you so” thrown every which way. Had the fight went the whole 15 minutes people would contest that Fedor should have beat him in the first punch anyway. (read above.) In going into the fight was there any way outside of Henderson having a heart attack prior to the “let’s get it on” part of the night where Fedor could have actually came out the winner. A questionable stoppage seems to be the only way that everyone can walk away happy. Fans of Fedor can argue, well he was just about to get up and communist punch the democracy out of Dan Henderson. Mean while, Henderson fans can (and rightfully should) tout Henderson as Rocky (I did, watch my interview with him) or David, or Micky mouse when he told to the story of swatting 3 flies and everyone confused it with Giants. (that of course is when Disney made movies that Walt would be proud of, not the Disney now that would have Walt, end his life the way Oedipus did.)
While this could set the table for a rematch, it’s not exactly what the world seems to be clamoring for.
So now what? Is he done? Seems that there is an entire generation of fighters ending doesn’t it. Seems that we as fans are the only ones not accepting it. Accepting that a fighter we love is losing his luster is the same as accepting that those few hairs were gray and not just in bad lighting. Worse case scenario they parade these men through the gauntlet of up and comer’s the way the Japanese do with Kazushi Sakuraba. Best case scenario we see 1 last performance, from Fedor, it looks like a good fight, he wins and we can say thank you to him. And he can open a cookie shop like Igor Vovchanchyn did.When you lose in a lose lose situation.That’s when the martydom to build other people’s names up begins.I say let him fight, but let him fight under the watchful eye of forced exile.As he said, his entire life has been devoted to sports.Isn’t it time he woke up not feeling sore, and just spend the day beating level 20 in Tetris?
If he retires, isn’t it time we stop dying our own hair, stop wearing ed hardy shirts that don’t fit, and finally lose the hope that Royce and Shamrock will go at it one more time and that it would be entertaining.
Derek Dean
