Henderson beats foe, Father Time

A spectacular first-round knockout of middleweight Tim Boetsch on Saturday night after five losses in his last six bouts provided what seemed an ideal opportunity for 44-year-old Dan Henderson to go out on a high note.

Henderson has other ideas. He insists he still has no plans to retire any time soon.

The two-time Olympian did, however, acknowledge Saturday’s victory in the main event of an Ultimate Fighting Championship card in New Orleans set the perfect stage should he have wanted to make such a decision.

“It would (be a great ending),” Henderson said at the postfight news conference. “But I guess I will have to do that on the next couple of fights also.”

Henderson has bounced back between middleweight and light heavyweight. He hasn’t decided which class he’ll compete in when he is back in action.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s always nicer to fight lighter guys. But it’s always fun to not cut weight and eat up to weigh-ins. Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m still enjoying the sport and beating top guys.”

It took him just 28 seconds to dispatch of Boetsch and become the oldest fighter in UFC history to record a knockout victory. Despite the brief amount of time he was in the cage, Henderson did injure his hand during his first victory in 440 days.

He doesn’t believe the injury will keep him out of action very long.

“I don’t think it’s broken,” he said. “I think right at the end I was hitting him at a different angle. I might have sprained my thumb or something — nothing a cold beer won’t help.”

Henderson is constantly asked about when he will decide to end his career, which started in 1997. He has consistently given the same answer that he’s not really thinking too much about it.

What did weigh on his mind was the losing.

Henderson was thrilled to get back in the win column.

“Obviously winning is better than losing,” he said. “After the last couple years I’ve had, it probably feels extra special to get back to my old self and the ways that I like to finish fights.

“It’s nice when I say I’m not done and nobody believes me to come out and prove I’m not done yet,” he said.

■ CORMIER SAD FOR BADER — While no date has been set, UFC officials announced last week that Daniel Cormier will defend the light heavyweight title for the first time against Alexander Gustafsson.

Gustafsson is the second-ranked contender, behind only Anthony Johnson, who lost the title fight to Cormier last month. Still, it was a bit unexpected when it was announced he would be the challenger for Cormier’s first defense since Gustafsson is coming off a loss.

Gustafsson got the nod ahead of Reno native Ryan Bader, the fourth-ranked contender who has won four straight fights and had a verbal confrontation with Cormier at the news conference after he won the title.

Despite the animosity, Cormier said he feels bad for Bader.

“It almost doesn’t matter what he does in any situation regardless of what’s going on, it will be hard for him to get a title fight. Because if there was a situation where he was going to get one, this would be it,” Cormier said during an appearance on Fox Sports 1. “Everything was there. From his press conference stunt to him being the only guy in the division on a win streak, if I was Ryan and his team I’d be pretty bummed out right now, actually.”

Cormier said he’s hoping his fight against Gustafsson will be scheduled for October.

■ EBERSOLE RETIRES — UFC welterweight Brian Ebersole, a veteran who had 70 professional fights, decided to retire after suffering a knee injury during a fight against Omari Akhmedov on Saturday.

“I’m old, everything hurts,” he said. “Lifetime of wrestling takes a toll on you, getting your head pulled, knees banged up. I’m going to leave it to the young guys now. That’s it for me. I’ve had a long career in MMA, a long career in wrestling and this thing (knee injury) has been bugging me throughout my camp. It was just lingering stuff. You try to go harder, and things start to flare up.

“I’ve been very bipolar in my training camp: sprint, rest, and rest longer, then wake up and sprint. It’s been hard, a hard camp. The stress of worrying about being healthy and worrying about my performance. It’s too much.”

Ebersole went 51-17-1 in his career, which included a 5-3 mark in the UFC. He dropped three of his last four, with his final win coming by split decision over John Howard in September.

■ VELASQUEZ RETURNS — UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will return to action for the first time since October 2013 when he defends the belt against interim champ Fabricio Werdum in the main event of UFC 188 in Mexico City on Saturday night.

Velasquez missed time with a knee injury. Werdum won the interim belt with a knockout of Mark Hunt in November, also in Mexico City.

The pay-per-view card also features a lightweight bout between Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.