Dan Henderson sends a message to the middleweight division

When it was announced earlier this year that #13 ranked UFC middleweight Dan Henderson would be getting first crack at Michael Bisping and his middleweight championship, there was widespread outrage regarding Bisping cutting the line to get a middleweight title shot.

While many MMA fans wanted to see the UFC 100 rematch between Bisping and Henderson, the general consensus among fans was that Henderson shouldn’t receive a title shot, despite the fact that he has promised this will be his final MMA fight.

During a recent interview with Fight Society, Henderson touched on the matter, stating:

“I completely understood where they were coming from,” Henderson said when speaking to the Fight Society podcast. “If I was in their shoes, I’m sure I’d have similar feelings but it’s hard to say. This is kind of not a normal situation. I’m the guy that’s been around a long time and done quite a bit in the sport, has beat (Bisping) up worse than he’s ever been beat up before, I think that the fans wanted to see it again.

For me, I don’t feel so bad because yeah, I’m kind of cutting in line a little bit but at the same I’m going to cut right back out of line. They can pick him up where I leave him. They can have what’s left of Bisping after I’m done with him.

For Henderson, the fight not only gives him the opportunity to once again defeat Bisping, this time he also has the opportunity to claim the UFC middleweight championship, adding to his MMA legacy as one of the most dominant champions in Pride FC history.

“It’s definitely something that’s been a goal of mine and I feel like I’ve been close to having that opportunity again and should have had that opportunity against Jon Jones and just got hurt and had a rough road back after the injury. I’m pretty thankful to be in this position where the fans asked for this fight and Dana White obliged,”