Father Time waits for no man, but then again, Dan Henderson isn’t any ordinary man.
He is a man, no doubt, made of the same ordinary stuff as you and I—flesh, blood and a beating heart. But his ability to still compete at 44 years old in the UFC, a promotion that houses the greatest MMA fighters on the planet, proves that something divergent lies beneath the surface.
Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 68 could have been Henderson’s eulogy. A loss would have made him 1-6 in his last seven fights. Not to mention, the loss would have come at the hands of Tim Boetsch, a 34-year-old former contender running on fumes. Boetsch is certainly no joke, but he also isn’t a top-10 middleweight.
It’s easy to convince UFC President Dana White to preserve your roster spot when you’re getting rag-dolled by Daniel Cormier and knocked out by Gegard Mousasi, but against Boetsch, Henderson had no excuses. It was do-or-die for the former Pride middleweight champ.
Like he has throughout his illustrious career, Henderson answered emphatically by leaning on old faithful once more—his devastating right hand. Boetsch took the bait and gravity did the rest 28 seconds into the first round.
Here is what we learned from the UFC Fight Night 68 main event.
What We'll Remember About This Fight
In the words of Kimbo Slice, we’ll remember Henderson and Boetsch “throwin’ dem thangs.”
To the delight of a boisterous New Orleans crowd, all forms of caution were tossed to the wind in a jam-packed round of fisticuffs. Both men met in the center of the Octagon with no hesitation. We didn’t expect anything less from the fearless middleweights.
The UFC put this fight together fully expecting both men to come out swinging until someone fell. It was the cherry on top of an underrated fight card. We all know those people who pass on these fight cards but always show up for the pay-per-views. They’ll be sorry they missed this one.
Retired UFC welterweight Nick Diaz agrees.
What We Learned About Dan Henderson
Win, lose or draw—Henderson entered the cage on Saturday night with virtually no way of quelling the retirement talk. Regardless of what happened, he was still going to have to sit in a crowded media room deflecting questions about his fighting future.
However, the questions don’t seem as pressing when a fighter is winning. The mood was lightened for the 44-year-old Henderson after ending his victory drought. We didn’t really learn anything from the actual fight that we didn’t already know. Henderson is still a dangerous middleweight fighter fully capable of knocking out any man who stands across from him. But the obvious signs of age are still there.
He doesn’t boast the same impenetrable jawline from years past, and his reaction time has slowed severely.
What We Learned About Tim Boetsch
Boetsch is a streaky, underappreciated workhorse in the UFC.
He’s a big, strong middleweight with good wrestling, knockout power and a strong will. The latter is an often overused compliment to undeserving fighters, but Boetsch earned his tough-man label through shed blood and absorbing ungodly amounts of punishment.
Boetsch is a tough fighter capable of putting on a great performance with a stylistically suitable opponent. Henderson was a suitable opponent, but Boetsch still got cracked.
What's Next for Henderson
Retirement should be next for Henderson. He’s already a shoe-in for the UFC Hall of Fame. Not to mention, he’s a former Pride and Strikeforce champion.
His resume includes some of the biggest names in MMA history, including Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Vitor Belfort and Rashad Evans. There really isn’t anything left to prove.
But who am I to tell a grown man what he should do with his life? If Henderson wants to continue fighting, so be it. No one can tell him otherwise after his quick destruction of Boetsch.
What's Next for Boetsch
Unfortunately for Boetsch, he doesn’t have the legendary status to lean on like Henderson. The UFC could opt to hand him a pink slip after back-to-back losses. It wouldn’t be the first time either. Boetsch was cut from the UFC after going 2-2 back in 2009 and losing a unanimous decision to Jason Brilz.
He is currently 2-5 in his last seven fights, and only one of the wins was convincing—a second-round TKO win over Brad Tavares. A release wouldn’t be a long shot considering the UFC’s history.
If Boetsch manages to stick around, he could be used as a gatekeeper for a younger fighter hoping to break into the top 15.
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