Henderson interview: ‘I’m not done yet’

CHICAGO -- Sitting at a restaurant in Chicago with Strikeforce boss Scott Coker and a handful of reporters, Dan Henderson answered questions on a variety of topics, from his future with Strikeforce to the his opponent on July 30, Fedor Emelianenko. He made it clear that he was not done yet, and is looking forward to this next challenge.

"With both of our careers, we've done a lot in the sport. You match two guys up like that, and with me probably being the underdog and a smaller guy, I have a lot more to gain than he does. I have a lot less to lose, and those fights are always the most fun for me," he told Cagewriter

Henderson will fight in a weight class much larger than any of his other fights, against a man who, until recently, was considered unstoppable. At 40 years old and with a legacy in combat sports set, why do it?

"The challenge of things, and things like fighting Fedor. That's the biggest challenge of my career. Those are things that excite me and motivate me to keep going," Henderson said.

In this bout, he won't defend his recently-won Strikeforce light-heavyweight belt. That hardly matters to Henderson.

"No, when I'm out there, I don't think, [expletive], the belt's not on the line. I better not hit this guy. I'm just as motivated when I train."

But the prospect of uniting light heavyweight titles across Strikeforce and the UFC does interest Henderson. When Henderson signed with Strikeforce, it seemed an impossibility, but Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce changed that.

"As soon as Zuffa bought Strikeforce, Jon Jones fought right after that. Everybody was blowing up my Twitter about fighting Jon Jones. I think that fight would be fun for me because he's so unorthodox. It's something that probably needs to be built up after I defend the belt once or twice."

Focused on Fedor

And it's not the fight that Henderson is focused on at the moment. Though he says that he never bought into the mystique of Fedor Emelianenko, he does respect what the Russian fighter has accomplished.

"I knew that he was talented and tough and there every fight. Those are the types of guys that are pretty consistent and I would never bet against him."

Like all fight fans, Henderson has wondered what happened to Emelianenko in his last few fights, which were losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva.

"Looking on the outside, his heart hasn't been into it. He's hardly trained. Ever since PRIDE, he doesn't look like he's put much into it. I'm hoping he gets rejuvenated."

Timing was a key part in putting this fight together.

"It was something that was interesting to me, that could possibly make everyone a lot of money, but things had to fall in the right way. With me losing my first fight, and then him losing, I thought it wasn't going to happen. Just the way things have gone in the light heavyweight division and then Fedor getting mugged by a really big heavyweight, they started looking at fighting littler guys. I'm probably about as little as he'll get to fight ever in his life. "

Henderson, who normally walks around at 204 lbs., has no plans of getting bigger to fight Emelianenko, who weighed in for his last fight at 230 lbs.

"It won't change a whole lot at all, except at weigh-ins, I'll drink water to make sure I'm over 205 lbs. I don't typically weigh over 205 much at all."

With a loss to Henderson, Emelianenko's management indicated that he might retire. Henderson doesn't want to see him walk away from MMA, but that doesn't mean he intends to hold back on July 30.

"No, I'm a fan of his like everyone else. I don't want to see him retire. But that won't stop me from beating him, either. "

Retirement isn't on Henderson's mind. He still wants to accomplish more, but he thanks his open approach to the sport for his long, successful career.

"My first fight, I hadn't done any training in MMA. I was just a wrestler. To learn along the way has been fun, and to evolve with the sport, and having the mentality that I could learn from anybody. That, and being smart over the years with my training."

That open-minded work ethic, and one other thing.

"Viagra," he said with a laugh.

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Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Monson

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DALLAS -- MMA Fighting spoke to Daniel Cormier after his dominant win over Jeff Monson at Saturday's Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event. Cormier talked about why he stood with Monson on the feet, his gameplan going into the fight and his next possible opponents.

 

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Sam Stout talks about his UFC 131 KO and knocking out bullying

Sam Stout turned heads on the undercard of UFC 131 with his highlight reel knockout of Yves Edwards. With that win under his belt, he is working on stopping bullying while also thinking about his next fight. He talked to Cagewriter about his win, his future and more.

When discussing his knockout, Stout said he didn't know that he scored such a jaw-dropper when he connected with Yves Edwards.

"The thing is with the big knockout shot, when you make that perfect connection, it's like when you hit a home run in baseball. It doesn't feel like it's big. It didn't hurt my hand. It's that perfect connection right on the button."

Though it would have been permissible for Stout to jump on top of Edwards to make sure the bout was over, he didn't. As soon as he saw that Edwards' eyes were rolled back in his head, Stout held back.

"For me, mixed martial arts is a sport. I'm not out there because I'm trying to hurt anyone. Especially Yves Edwards. He's a great competitor, great guy, class act. We have a lot of respect for each other. I didn't want to do anything to hurt the guy. "

Stout now has two wins in row in the UFC, and would like to continue facing tough opponents.

"I've been so focused on this fight with Yves Edwards that I haven't been looking after him, right now, I'm still soaking it in. Enjoying it. There's a huge list of guys to choose from. I know Donald Cerrone kind of called me out, not in a disrespectful way, but he's a great opponent. There's Anthony Pettis, and so many great fighters and great possible match-ups for me right now. I want to fight another top 10, top 15 guy and keep climbing my way up the rankings."

In the meantime, he's spending working with his trainer Shawn Tompkins and teammates Chris Horodecki and Mark Hominick on teaching children about the dangers of bullying.

"That's one of our major responsibilities as fighters, to let people know that it's not OK to fight in the street. It's not OK to pick on someone because you're bigger and stronger. It's an important message for us to portray to kids who might not be able to decipher the difference between a fight in a ring and fighting outside the sport."

It's a cause that many fighters feel strongly about. Dan Henderson visited a Chicago school last week to discuss bullying's problems. Ben Henderson and Daniel Cormier have done the same, and Jason "Mayhem" Miller's television show was built around people standing up to their bullies.

Though Stout says that he was never the victim of bullies, he saw how much they tormented others.

"I was never picked on, but it's something I knew was wrong. My parents always raised me to stick up for myself, and to stick up for people who couldn't stick up for themselves."

Now, Stout shares that message with the young students of the Tapout Training Center in Las Vegas.

"It's a message we really portray with the kids program. If any of them get into trouble, especially with violence at their schools, we encourage the parents to let us know. We sit down and talk with them, and if it's something that continues, we let them know that they won't be allowed to train. Most these kids are having a lot of fun with it, so it motivates them to be better people."

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UFC 131′s Three Stars: Stout, Herman and Munoz

Anyone who was disappointed with the UFC 131 lineup going into the fights was quickly quieted by the excellent performances in Vancouver on Saturday night. Top to bottom, UFC 131 featured exciting bouts that had huge implications in each fighters' division. Who stood out?

No. 1 star -- Sam Stout: In what UFC president Dana White called "one of the most violent knockouts he has ever seen," Stout knocked out Yves Edwards with a bang. His overhand left had Edwards out before he even hit the canvas. He won a $70,000 bonus for that knockout.

No. 2 star -- Dave Herman: After a career of jumping around promotions, Herman had the chance to impress after Brock Lesnar's surgery caused a reshuffling of the heavyweights at UFC 131. He took advantage of his slot on the main card, showing off an iron chin and devastating knees that eventually led to the win over Golden Glory-trained John-Olav Einemo.

No. 3 star -- Mark Munoz: Early in his bout with Demian Maia, Munoz looked surprised by the improved stand-up that Maia showed. By the second round, he had regained his composure and did a masterful job of mixing strikes and wrestling while holding off Maia's vaunted submission attempts. Now, Munoz is on the lookout for a title shot, and he impressed the boss. After the fights, Dana White said:

"Beating Demian Maia is a big deal. It was a good, tough fight tonight, and it was funny because Demian Maia looked awesome. The fact that he bought Demian Maia, and the fact that he beat Demian the way that Demian fought tonight was unbelievable."

Who were your Three Stars from UFC 131? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Older Overeem lacks fighting spirit in loss to Griggs

That's not the way you want to start a high level MMA broadcast. Valentijn Overeem, with a spotty 29-25 record coming in, bailed mentally from his fight against Chad Griggs. Overeem submitted due to strikes at 3:28 of the first round of the first Showtime fight on the Strikeforce card in Dallas.

The American prospect scored a takedown and fell into half guard. Overeem did a nice job of controlling Grigg's left arm. Once "The Grave Digger" freed his arm, he unloaded on Overeem. The older brother of Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, turned to his side where Griggs pounded away. Seconds later, Overeem tapped to alert referee Kerry Hatley that he'd had enough.

Griggs landed 28 of 40 shots and picked up win No. 3 of his Strikeforce career.

Griggs (11-1) first exploded onto the scene with a 2010 victory over Bobby Lashley. Showtime announcer Mauro Ranallo foreshadowed the happenings when he said Overeem's less than stellar record was due to the fact that he hasn't always handled rough situations well.

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Strikeforce Live Blog: Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum Updates

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DALLAS -- This is the Strikeforce live blog for Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, a heavyweight bout on tonight's Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum card at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Overeem (34-11) is the Strikeforce heavyweight champion and last year stopped both Brett Rogers and Todd Duffee. Werdum (14-4-1) is coming off a career-defining win one year ago over Fedor Emelianenko. In this non-title tournament bout, the winner will advance to face Antonio Silva in the Strikeforce Grand Prix semifinals at a later date.

The live blog is below.




Round 1:
Werdum starts us off with a head kick that Overeem ducks under. Werdum tests the distance with a two-punch combo, then shoots for his first takedown 45 seconds into the fight. Overeem stuffs it easily. Two more takedown attempts also fail, with Werdum not even coming close. He's not setting up the shots at all, which doesn't help. Overeem catches a Werdum kick and tosses him to the mat, but no way is he following him down. Overeem moves in close for a punch and Werdum pulls guard. Overeem stands up and backs away, and this scenario repeats itself a few moments later. The second time Overeem backs up with his hands in the air, taunting Werdum. Werdum gets up and lands a decent punch combo followed by a knee, but Overeem is unfazed. Overeem sits Werdum down with a big left hook, then steps back and takes a look at his hand. Werdum now literally begging Overeem to come down, but nothing doing. Werdum pulls half-guard just before the horn, but can't get anything going. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Overeem.

Round 2: Overeem whiffs on a right hand lead. Werdum punches his way into the clinch and looks for a takedown. Overeem tosses him to the mat again, but won't follow him there. Werdum lands a nice right hand and actually manages to put Overeem down. He's back up quickly, but he eats a hard knee that wobbles him just a bit. Werdum smells blood and comes in swinging, but Overeem stays calm and recovers. More guard-pulling from Werdum, and he's slower and slower to get up each time. Overeem rocks him with a hard right that puts Werdum on his back, and this time Overeem follows into the guard. The big man may be taking a breather here. Werdum tries to get something going with the open guard, but Overeem backs away. A big knee from Overeem drops Werdum again, but it's hard to tell whether he's rocked or just pulling guard. Most likely it's the latter. Overeem again winds up in Werdum's guard in the final minute, but Werdum can't even begin to set up a submission. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Overeem.

Round 3: Werdum opens up with punch combos to start the final frame. Overeem covers up and backs away, landing a hard right that sends sweat flying of Werdum's head. Werdum again tries pulling half-guard to no effect, and then pulls guard off an Overeem right hand a few moments later. He's just holding on to Overeem to keep him on the mat with him, but it doesn't let him work much offense. Overeem stands up and baits Werdum back to his feet. Werdum lands a couple nice blows, but he eats a hard right and again tries to pull half-guard. Werdum is not unsuccessful in the stand-up game, but he seems like he'd rather lose a decision off his back than take a chance on his feet with Overeem. A chant of 'Stand them up' erupts in the crowd. We enter the final minute of the fight and they're still mired in a quagmire on the ground. 30 seconds left, and they're back on their feet. Werdum lands several nice punches on a defensive Overeem, then pulls guard and looks for a leg lock, but runs out of time. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10.

Alistair Overeem def. Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

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Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Photos
Alistair Overeem knees Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
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UFC 131 Photos

Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos trade shots at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Shane Carwin attempts to take down Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Junior dos Santos tries to finish Shane Carwin late in the first at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Junior dos Santos (right) rocks Shane Carwin at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Junior dos Santos kicks Shane Carwin at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Shane Carwin is bloodied up at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Junior dos Santos punches Shane Carwin at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Junior dos Santos lands a left hand against Shane Carwin at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Blood drips down the face of Shane Carwin at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos

Shane Carwin makes a last ditch effort late in the third round at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

UFC 131 Photos


 

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