Two long-time fan favorite in the sport, Dan Henderson and Urijah faber, have both indicated that they are now contemplating retirement after their fights at UFC 199 this past weekend.
First up came Henderson who produced another amazing KO victory against Hector Lombard that seemed like a perfect exclamation point to mark the end of his legendary career.
“I’m more than capable of still fighting if I want to,” Henderson said in a post-fight interview on FOX Sports 1. “I know I can beat some of the top guys, but this is the first time I’ve said this in my career: This could actually be the last one. I’d be satisfied if I walked away now depending on what my options are.”
At the post-fight presser, the 45 year-old Henderson was telling a similar story, with concerns over his financial security appearing to be the main thing that’s stopping him from officially hanging up his gloves for good.
“I don’t want to make any decisions emotionally, but knowing in my mind there’s a possibility that might have been the last one, it was a good one to have that,” Henderson said. “All my kids, everybody were able to come. It was a little emotional, but it all depends on what my options are afterward. Obviously I’m going to need a paycheck for a little while, but we’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, Urijah Faber also appears to also be seriously considering moving on from competing in the cage after losing out to his rival, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in their trilogy fight in the co-main event of the show.
“I didn’t think fatigue was an issue, but I got caught a couple times and got outclassed in the fight,” Faber said at the post-fight press conference. “I don’t like that. I’m fighting a great fighter, but for me to get outclassed, I gotta assess things.”
“I love this sport, I love what I do, I love fighting and combat and I love to train hard, but I want to be at my best,” he added.
However, the 37 year-old ‘California Kid’ also expressed an interest in fighting at a new arena that’s being built in his hometown of Sacremento, and since he still remains one of the best in the world at 135lbs, it would not be a great surprise to see Faber pull back on the retirement talk once the dust has settled from Saturday night’s fights.
