Dan Henderson. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Dan Henderson rode off into the sunset after his final title match against UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping at UFC 204 in Manchester, England, on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
In a highly contested back-and-forth match-up that went the distance, Henderson failed to get the nod in the eyes of the judges, who awarded the unanimous decision win to the hometown favorite.
READ: Bisping keeps UFC title, beats retiring Henderson
Once the dust settled, the 46-year old MMA veteran said he was proud of his performance and felt he actually won the fight.
“The first round, it was almost finished real close and I thought that was obviously a 10-8 round but you never know. I thought I won the first two rounds. He won the third and fourth and I wanted to make sure I went out and won the fifth. I thought I did that,” the former Pride and Strikeforce champion said at the post-fight presser via Fox Sports.
Hendo’s claims were somehow justified, considering he did knock down “The Count” on multiple occasions in the first and second rounds—leaving the champion’s face battered and bruised when the fight was over.
Henderson, however, considerably slowed down in the latter rounds, which could have been the deciding factor when it came to the judges’ verdict.
“I’d have to go home and watch it again to be a little more educated talking to you guys about it, but that’s what I was thinking. That’s what was going through my head during the fight. I didn’t want to end up with a draw, I wanted to make sure I won the fight and wanted to win that fifth round,” he said.
Despite ending up on the shorter end of a somehow controversial result, Henderson said he had no plans to exact revenge and would still hang his gloves for good.
“Like I said, it is what it is, there’s no changing that now. I don’t think and I’ve just got to live with it. Unfortunately, that was the last one. It will have to be an ‘L’ on my record but I left it all in there and I felt like I did everything I needed to do to win that fight. Unfortunately, everybody didn’t see it that way,” he said.
Henderson still wants to be involved in MMA in some capacity, but at the moment, he’s contented at being a “personal Uber driver” for his kids back home. Khristian Ibarrola