After a long hiatus, Dan "Hendo" Henderson returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and attempted to slay “The Dragon” Lyoto Machida. On Saturday, February 23, 2013, Henderson and Machida fought in the co-main event of UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
A graduate of Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, Dan Henderson is a former Olympian. He is a wrestling legend in Victorville, and many fans of Mixed Martial Arts consider him to be one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport of MMA.
Trying to place himself in a better position to earn a title shot, Henderson attempted to get a victory against former champion Lyoto Machida.
Machida and Henderson spent most of the first round trying to figure out how to attack each other. Neither fighter mounted much offense in the first round, but Machida managed to trip Dan Henderson to the ground and land on top. The first round ended with Machida throwing strikes down on Henderson, who was on his back.
In the second round, Henderson stalked Machida around the cage while Machida was throwing counterstrikes.
In the third round, Henderson took down Machida but did not do much damage from the top. Machida was able to get back to his feet. Before the round ended, Machida landed some kicks.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28. Unfortunately for Henderson, two of the three judges scored the fight for Machida.
At the post-fight conference, Henderson said, “In my mind, I thought I won the fight.”
Despite the loss, the 42-year-old Henderson expressed a desire to fight again and said he wanted to fight soon. He mentioned his age and that he didn't have much time left in his fighting career.
Henderson said, “I’m ready to go in June or July.”
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