I think there's some good points around that retirement is a fine option for him. As well as a few at least in his mind saying that he shouldn't retire but keep going.
First let's go over a little history of Hendo. You can obviously wiki him and see details of him, what he's accomplished in the past in both wrestling and MMA. He's a rugged veteran who was a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler. He's accomplished something very few in MMA have done and that is being a champion in 2 different weight classes in an organization as prestigious as PRIDE. Woefully, when he did come over to the UFC, he gave up both titles as they were unified in his losses to Anderson Silva and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. He sort of come back into resurgence especially after his brutal KO win over Michael Bisping, then left the UFC shortly after to go to Strikeforce and establishing his name there as he defeated thelikes of Renato Sobral, Rafael Cavalcante (this win was for their Light Heavyweight title). Next he fought the enigmatic Fedor Emelianenko and he was the first person to actually and truly legitimately knock out The Last Emperor as he finished his contract with Strikeforce. From there, Zuffa LLC(owners of the FC) bought out Strikeforce, Dan returned to the UFC and had a less than stellar run in regards to record. But we'll go over that too.
In the start of his career, Dan was a person who was known as an Olympic caliber wrestler. He was a person who could use it there and there. But as he advanced later on his career, he used his wrestling the same way Wanderlei Silva uses his BJJ Black Belt - defensively. Hendo was predominantly known for his powerful Right Hook or Overhand Right punch with Mauro Renallo later coined as the H-Bomb - it was a bit predictable, but most fighters if were hit by it would be knocked out cold or at the very least potentially knocked down. More and more as he advanced in his career, his wrestling become an afterthought and many wondered how can someone with his wrestling just completely forego it or even ignore it. He did use it a little bit, but mainly for the clinch. Even back when he faced Rampage Jackson to unify the UFC and PRIDE LHW/MW titles as one, Hendo was getting taken down by the seemingly more 1 dimensional Boxer in Jackson. Dan lost that fight via decision sadly. I will go into a list as to why I think Dan should hang it up and call it quits.
- First and foremost, the man is 43. He's quite old in MMA fighting age, and many consider mid to late 30's already practically senior citizen level. He's beyond that and outside of legends like Dan Severn and Randy Couture, Hendo is among the oldest ever who's fought.
- TRT - The elephant in the room. Whatever you may or may not think of Testosterone Replacement Therapy. It's basically a way to keep some fighters more relevant whether people like it or not. The Vitor Belfort fight was funnily praised as Brazilian TRT vs. American TRT. And in a way, it was quite true, both Vitor and Dan both take TRT, although it's probably not as "life-threatening" to Dan as VItor may need is - it's still an odd note that this is legalized for a select few fighters. That isn't to say those who take TRT are all cheaters, they may have their reasons, but a large majority of other fighters aren't allowed to exploit the usage of it.
- He's sort of easy to prepare for. Let's be honest, when was the last time Dan really, and I mean really - used that wrestling of his? Not a long while. He's the type of guy to just work over fighters with his slow but powerful strikes, he can be telegraphed at times, but still dangerous. His right hand is something many fighters prepare for and always have their left hand near their face in an effort to block it. Dan rarely throws kicks, and even worse, takedowns as well. Factor in his age too with it all.
- He's fought for a very long time. His career in MMA is 17 years, that's quite astounding as very few men have fought that long and still stayed to that level of relevance. His very first UFC event was at UFC 17 showing that he's been around in the early days, not quite at the start of the UFC, but still fairly close.
- Dan has a gym too obviously. His team/camp formerly was a part of Team Quest in Murrieta, California is well renowned for their work in fostering fighters who can wrestle. Chael Sonnen recently went training at Dan's gym in preparation for his fight with Rashad Evans, usually Chael trains over at Team Quest over in Portland, Oregon. Even if Dan retired, he can spend the rest of his days simply acting as a Head Coach role of some sort and still be a great leader for the next generation of fighters and wrestlers - that is if he wanted. Who's to say he won't do this when he does retire?
- Dan's fight with Vitor was last of his current UFC contract. As of the time this article was written, he is a free agent - that means he can go to whatever organization offers a contract for him. He could return to the UFC - he has good name value there despite his current string of losses. Or go to the smaller but growing organizations of Bellator or World Series of Fighting. He could possibly go overseas to One FC and try to regain some of his Asian fanbase back, but he was never quite as popular with Asians (mainly Japanese due to his history with PRIDE and RINGS) as say Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, and others.
- A storied career with a man who fought from 177lbs to 220lbs. He's almost done it all, multiple weight class champion, competed at the Olympics twice, fought in some of the biggest MMA orgs around and been in countless headliner matchups. Even if he were to retire tomorrow, there's no shame in it. The contract issue can make things a lot easier as he is looking for a contract now that his current run with the UFC is over (as I said before, he can always re-sign with the UFC though). But if he retired, I'm sure the UFC would put him in their Hall of Fame. That sickeningly nasty KO of Bisping alone is worth it.
- Tough chin, in his long career his first ever real TKO/KO loss was to Vitor Belfort(his most recent fight). I mean, of all the fighters he's fought over the years with power, the likes of Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Rampage Jackson, Mauricio Rua, and the list goes on, those capable of KO'ing others. Dan only lost once by KO from Vitor, it goes to show you even at his "old" age of 43 in MMA, he can take a beating from some of the best. His epic 5 round war with Shogun showed both men's grit and tenacity.
So will Dan retire? Or keep fighting. If you saw him post fight after Belfort KO, he did say he was simply caught. The uppercut that landed on him hurt him, but he claimed he was still in it, Dan desperately fought on and tried to get into a better position, but a following headkick changed all of that as Dan was clearly done. There's no shame in losing to Vitor Belfort, especially via headkick as of late as it seems that is now Vitor's weapon of choice. Dan can still fight some opponents and still have some really exciting matchups, even if they're not the most recognizable names out there. But I do think he should just retire though. He's already done quite a lot for this sport, and outside of trying to earn money as a fighter, I don't see why he should do it any more. I am aware he is a serious competitor, but he really doesn't need this in his life does he? Only Dan himself can answer that.
No comments:
Post a Comment