Gegard Mousasi needs only 70 seconds to finish Dan Henderson
It only took one big right hand on the top of the head for Gegard Mousasi to send Dan Henderson crashing to the mat before a few more punches followed as the co-main event from Sweden came to an end in the first round.
Mousasi came out of the gate looking very comfortable on his feet with good head movement as he ducked under Henderson's signature right hand on a couple of occasions.
Early in the fight, Mousasi motioned to the referee while pointing at Henderson's eye as if something was wrong.
Mousasi later said that he caught Henderson and caused a cut toward the inside of the eye and wanted to make sure his opponent was OK to continue.
Not much more time passed before Mousasi and Henderson stepped into the pocket and both took big swings at each other, but only one man landed. With Henderson ducking his head down and punching up, Mousasi countered with a heavy right hand that clipped the former PRIDE champion on the top of the head.
Henderson immediately sat down and fell against the cage, clearly rattled from the shot. Mousasi quickly followed him to the ground and opened up a couple of more punches before referee Leon Roberts swooped in for the stoppage.
Henderson appeared to be working for a takedown as he was grabbing Mousasi's leg during the end of the fight, but ultimately it was a very tough call considering the flash knockdown just seconds earlier.
Either way, Mousasi gets a huge win over a legend of the sport while picking up his third victory since coming to the UFC. Following a rough stretch where he dropped fights to both Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, this was a much-needed win for Mousasi as he climbs back up the middleweight rankings.
"If I'm ready, I can beat anyone," Mousasi said after the win.
As for Henderson, he drops to 1-5 in his last six fights and faces an uncertain future with the UFC. At 44 years old, Henderson has insisted he wants to fight until the end of his contract, but it's hard to tell if he'll get another shot or if the promotion will push for either retirement or his release.
