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[Sakara=Excitement]

No excuses from Dan Henderson, credits Strikeforce champ Jake Shields' game plan | MMAjunkie.com

If Dan Henderson has an excuse for a lackluster showing against middleweight champion Jake Shields at this past weekend's "Strikeforce: Nashville" event, he's keeping it to himself.

Following Henderson's unanimous-decision defeat during a CBS-televised headliner at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., the former UFC fighter repeatedly was asked – in one form or another – what prompted the defeat.

Henderson continually pointed to one reason: his opponent.

While Shields (25-4-1 MMA, 3-0 SF) was the winner and earned his 14th straight victory with the performance, he was in trouble early. Henderson (25-8 MMA, 0-1 SF) quickly found his range in the first round and dropped Shields on a few occasions. In one key moment, Henderson followed his downed opponent and dived to the mat with a big looping right hand – the kind that knocked Michael Bisping into oblivion at UFC 100 in July 2009.

What would have no doubt been a fight-ending blow instead grazed Shields' ear and hit the mat with a thud. Shields soon recovered and – aside from needing to escape a rear-naked choke in the second round – took control in the final four rounds to earn the win.

"I got a lot of flack for hitting someone when [fans] thought he was done in my last fight," Henderson said of the Bisping bout. "I went to jump on top of [Shields] and didn't quite crack him very good, and the fight kept going. He won the fight.

"You never know until it's all the way over. I knew I hurt him real bad, but I didn't land those next couple punches to finish him off."

Henderson confirmed he had a tough weight cut ("it was a little rougher than usual but I don't blame my performance on it," he said after the fight) but wouldn't comment on rumors of a lingering neck ailment. Henderson admitted he began to tire in later rounds but said Shields "deserves all the credit" for an effective game plan.

"I just got a little tired for whatever reason, and Jake had a great game plan," Henderson said. "He covered me well on top and stayed there and just kind of controlled well from the top. And I did a very bad job getting back up.

"He's got all my respect."

Henderson was often put on his back, especially in the later round, and Shields had little trouble moving into the mount position throughout the bout. Shields connected on some solid ground and pound, but he could never put away his opponent.

"I didn’t overlook him at all," Henderson said. "He's definitely one of the top guys out there."

Neither Henderson nor Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who reportedly paid heavily to sign the fighter (though the Tennessee Athletic Commission does not release official salaries), predicted what's next for the fighter. Henderson said he's also still open to fighting at both middleweight and light heavyweight.

Either way, Coker suggested Henderson will play a key role in future events.

"Dan is a legend in this sport, and I've watched him in PRIDE and even before that," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "I followed his career for years, and he's had some battles. This is not the last fight for Dan Henderson, as you all know. He'll be back, and we look forward to having him fight some epic battles for Strikeforce."

I think the most telling point of this interview is right here....

"I got a lot of flack for hitting someone when [fans] thought he was done in my last fight," Henderson said of the Bisping bout. "I went to jump on top of [Shields] and didn't quite crack him very good, and the fight kept going. He won the fight.

I see Hendo violently ending someone's night the next chance he gets.

[U shut ur FACE]

I was blown away by the outcome of this fight... I never thought Shields would out-wrestle Henderson for the win... Crazy...

[willpunisher]

about time he starts fighting real fighters.

[SinnerTim]

Good for Henderson. Mad props to Shields, fought an amazing fight

[fuzzrocks5285]

still bummed as fuck he lost. however, love the fact he makes no excuses.

[goodtimes]

I like how he's not making any excuses, he came about as close to winning the fight as you can without winning. I just think his cardio is not what it used to be.

[13NoVa]

I really don't understand how people could ever assume Henderson would outwrestle Sheilds. I'm a Hendo fan, but when you put a guy in the cage who's a Greco Roman wrestler from the late 80's and early 90's, and who's almost 40 years old... and put him up against a 30 year old who has a rounded wrestling game. The Greco wrestler will win every round on the feet, but will almost always lose on the ground, which is what we experienced.

[boomsnack]

Originally Posted by 13NoVa

I really don't understand how people could ever assume Henderson would outwrestle Sheilds. I'm a Hendo fan, but when you put a guy in the cage who's a Greco Roman wrestler from the late 80's and early 90's, and who's almost 40 years old... and put him up against a 30 year old who has a rounded wrestling game. The Greco wrestler will win every round on the feet, but will almost always lose on the ground, which is what we experienced.

he did no damage to hendo really and get off of these forums and pay attention to Insertion sort and what the hell are you watching on youtube looks like the movie Bloodsport

[ckauffman28]

love it when a fighter admits he got beat by the better man and not " i had a fractured skull" or " my back hurts" or " My knee was in bad shape so i couldnt train properly"

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Hendo's a legit fighter and gets high marks for taking the high road, because as somebody who has a certain expectation of how Dan Henderson should be in a big fight, I saw several "outs" that lesser men would've turned to as alternative explainations to excuse why they got dominated and but that's not Hendo and is pretty admirable.

I mean, between the long layoff, the horrendous cut, his escalating age and his rumoued injured back, there appears to be some pretty big justification for why he got outgunned by somebody who people heaviliy bet against, Hendo doesn't need to scapegoat his poor performanace when the reasons are so apparent and by giving Shields his due is pretty solid, if I don't totally think Shields was soley responsible for taking that fight. I think if the Dan nearly killed him in the first and then just blew up completely and got outgrinded by a helluva grinder.