Veteran Henderson: Strikeforce title belt ‘just cherry on top’

The former UFC 17 middleweight tournament champion and two-division Pride champion has been at the top of the sport for almost his entire career.

At 40 years old, it’s more about challenging himself now.

Henderson said his third-round knockout of Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante on Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, was more about beating a difficult opponent and that capturing the Strikeforce light heavyweight title was just a cherry on top.

“But I do like cherries,” he said with a smile at the postfight news conference.

Henderson survived a big right hand that sent him backpedaling to the mat in the first round and captured the belt with a straight right of his own two rounds later. As Cavalcante fell backward, Henderson shoved him to the mat face-first. He then pounced and landed several shots on the ground until the fight was stopped.

“Leading up to this fight there was a lot of talk about fighting for the title, but I didn’t give it much thought,” Henderson said. “But now that I have it, it is really nice.”

It was the third Strikeforce fight for Henderson, who left the Ultimate Fighting Championship on a three-fight winning streak after his contract expired following a brutal knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in July 2009.

His first Strikeforce bout was against Jake Shields for the middleweight title. Henderson lost by decision after nearly stopping Shields early on.

He had one fight at light heavyweight before the title shot. Henderson refused to rule out a fight at middleweight in the future but did say he looks forward to defending the belt.

“Hopefully, I can break the curse,” he said.

Four consecutive Strikeforce light heavyweight champions have lost in their first defense.

Also on the card, Marloes Coenen retained the women’s welterweight crown with a fourth-round submission over Liz Carmouche.

■ STRIKEFORCE TO SAN DIEGO — Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament is on hold, but the organization has assembled an impressive card for its first foray into the San Diego market.

A welterweight title bout between Paul Daley and champion Nick Diaz, two of the most notorious trash-talkers in the sport, headlines the April 9 card at Valley View Casino Center, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena.

Gilbert Melendez will also defend his lightweight title for the first time in nearly a year as he takes on Japanese star Tatsuya Kawajiri, who will be making his U.S. debut.

Another Japanese star, Shinya Aoki, will fight for the second time in the U.S., taking on Lyle Beerbohm, according to a source close to the organization. Aoki was disappointed by his subpar performance in losing a lightweight title bout to Melendez in April.

The heavyweight tournament resumes with the last two quarterfinal bouts on a card June 18 in Dallas. Alistair Overeem, the heavyweight champion, will meet Fabricio Werdum in one quarterfinal. The other will feature Josh Barnett against Brett Rogers.

■ UFC SCHEDULE — The Ultimate Fighting Championship will officially announce UFC 130 will take place May 28 at the MGM Grand. Tickets will go on sale March 19.

The event will be headlined by a lightweight title rematch between Las Vegan Gray Maynard and champion Frankie Edgar. Also, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will face Matt Hamill, and Las Vegas heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson will square off.

UFC 131 will be in Vancouver, according to multiple sources close to the organization.

Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, the opposing coaches on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” will headline the card.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.