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30/06/09 - Bisping on Henderson: "Too old, can't hit me"
Dan Henderson is too old and too slow to deal with Michael Bisping’s speed and cardio - according to Michael Bisping.
The British middleweight thinks Henderson is “slowing down” at the age of 38 and says “I don’t think he is going to catch me”.
“People say he is a legend in the sport and I suppose that is a fair description. He has fought a who’s who of mixed martial artists - and beat a lot of them as well,” he says in a pre-fight interview for UFC 100.
“I could be underestimating him massively but when I watch him I don’t see a problem for me there to be honest. If I go out and fight the way I know I can fight then I know I can beat him. Dan Henderson may be one of the best wresters out there but I’ve learned how to deal with those guys. I wrestle every day, day in day out.
“If people take me down - and I have showed this when I have fought wrestlers - I get straight back up, every time. I know how to get back up. I realised a long time ago that, coming from England we don’t have the high school wrestling, I might get outwrestled a lot. So every time I sparred I started on my back. Now I am virtually impossible to hold down.”
As for Henderson’s much-vaunted ‘big right hand’, Bisping - who counts Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Cheick Kongo as sparring partners - says it holds no fears for him.
“He has this big right hand [but] I very rarely get hit. People have said I am a pain in the ass to hit and a pain in the ass to spar with. I think I am going to be too quick for him, I don’t think he is going to be able to land that big shot - no one has yet,” he laughs.
“I am not saying I’ve not been hit but I’ve not been put on my ass, I’ve not been knocked out. I don’t see Dan Henderson… no disrespect, but at 38 years of age he’s got to be slowing down. I don’t think he is going to catch me with it.”
“There is no reason I shouldn’t win the fight. Dan Henderson is tough and I expect to come out of the fight with a sore jaw and having been put in some positions I have never been in before but I think if I fight to my full potential then it is certainly a fight I can win.”
Bisping meets Henderson at UFC 100 on July 11th in a fight that finalises their run as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighters season nine.
FO Staff
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