UFC
Dan Henderson on UFC on Fox 14 loss: "I feel like I didn't really get in there to fight and get an opportunity"
Jan 25, 2015 - 10:55:08 AM Dan Henderson on UFC on Fox 14 loss: "I feel like I didn't really get in there to fight and get an opportunity"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Dan Henderson doesn't feel like he got a chance to fight effectively against Gegard Mousasi on Saturday at UFC on Fox 14, as his eyelid was sliced open early on, and he felt the stoppage was too early as well.

The eyelid cut - reminiscent of Randy Couture's loss to Vitor Belfort in their first rematch at UFC 46 - happened early on, and led to an awkward moment as Mousasi recognized it and tried to point it out, but Henderson pressed on. Sporting an eye patch at the post-fight press conference, Henderson discussed the cut, and the loss to Mousasi.

"I've got to see the specialist in the morning as far as stitching it up. It probably looks worse than it is," Henderson said of the eye (via MMAJunkie.com). "The eyelid was sliced open, and it needs to be stitched up by an eye specialist. I've never had that kind of injury before. I rarely get caught in a fight, and I can imagine it will heal like any other stitches."

"My eyelid was sliced open. I knew that something was wrong when I couldn't see out of it. It didn't feel like a hard punch, but I couldn't see and it was real blurry out of one eye and then Gegard started pointing at it. I just felt like if they looked at it it would have been stopped. So I tried to pressure him and he clipped me a little bit then you guys saw what happened. I feel like I didn't really get in there to fight and get an opportunity. It's just unfortunate the way it happened and it just sucks."

Henderson also added that he felt fine after the loss, despite getting tagged and stopped for the third time in four fights.

Penick's Analysis: Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about the thought of that stoppage being early is that it means Henderson's going to push to fight again. He doesn't need to. His body isn't reacting to punches the way it used to for him, and he's going to take unnecessary damage that could have seriously adverse effects on his health in the future. The stoppage was just fine given the way his body reacted to that ground strike, and had he been given more chance to recover, he was going to get hit more, this time with Mousasi on top of him. That's all there is to it. Unfortunately, he'll try to convince the UFC to give him another fight, and they might give him one. But that's not something I think too many want to see happen, if only out of concern for his future health.

[Dan Henderson art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]