Dan Henderson tells Sky Sports about his KO win against Michael Bisping ahead of rematch

By James Dielhenn

Wednesday 21 September 2016 11:27, UK

Dan Henderson has denied that the 2009 knockout of Michael Bisping is his career highlight in a subtle dig at his upcoming opponent.

Bisping became Britain's first UFC champion this summer and will put his middleweight gold on the line for the first time in a rematch against Henderson.

American veteran Henderson will retire after trying to repeat his knockout win over Bisping and has reminded the new champion of his impressive array of credentials during an exclusive interview with Sky Sports.

"As far as my best win? No, not at all," he said. "But it was one of the more popular wins. It was a good knockout against somebody that everybody wanted to see knocked out.

"Obviously that felt great to hit him just right and watch him fall. I hit him again to make sure the fight was over. It all happened very quickly.

"Michael had opened his mouth quite a bit before then, and a lot of people wanted to see him get knocked out.

"But as far as accomplishments, I feel like I've had bigger challenges than him that mean more to me."

Asked by Sky Sports which victory was his favourite, he said: "Wanderlei Silva, when I knocked him out. He'd held the [middleweight world title] belt for six years. That was my second belt. Fedor Emelianenko is definitely on that list as well.

"I don't think anybody has ever accomplished winning four belts in three organisations, so it's definitely something that's right up there. In my mind, I've accomplished a lot."

Henderson won four world championships across two weight-classes outside of the UFC, beating opposition that will join him as all-time greats.

A UFC title remains a notable omission from his record - he lost consecutive opportunities in 2007 and 2008 to Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva - but now has one final chance.

The 46-year-old said: "Bisping knows I'm going to retire, maybe he thinks I'm getting too old. Before he had the belt, he really didn't have anything to offer me to even consider. There was no point for me to try and re-do what I did so well the first time.

"I would be completely happy with a close decision as long as I'm on the winning side. Obviously I'd like to knock him out again and I'll definitely try to duplicate what I did the first time."

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