Aside from his cauliflower ears and rugged face, it is hard to imagine that the man sitting with his one year-old daughter in his lap was a former Olympic wrestler and the last (and only simultaneous) Pride welterweight and middleweight champion in history. Since returning to the UFC in 2007, and now at 38 years-old, pushing to recapture his glory by becoming a UFC champion is not the only thing that the world renowned slugger has on his plate.

“I’m probably going to be getting involved in some nutritional stuff. As of now the Clinch Gear (Henderson’s clothing line) keeps me real busy. We’re also opening another Team Quest gym up in Oregon and just continuing to pull along.

Of course, Henderson’s family keeps him on his toes as well. Perhaps more than any opponent possibly could in the UFC.

“They keep me busy as well,” Henderson chuckled.

Henderson recently filed a breach of contract lawsuit against MMA Authentics in a California court claiming that the clothing line failed to pay him a second $30,000 guaranteed royalty down payment and a $20,000 sponsorship fee for logo placement.

“It’s just pretty sh**y. I want to have a look at his books with everybody else that’s under contract with him. That plus the money that he owes me, you know, quite a bit of money he owes me. I think it’ll take care of itself in court. I’m not really worried about getting what’s owed to me. If he goes out of business that’s one thing; if he keeps doing business he’ll owe me the money,” Henderson commented.

Family, legal issues, and business ventures aside, Henderson recently earned a unanimous decision win over Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 at the Philips Arena in GA. Although he was satisfied with the victory, the Apple Valley, CA native will never truly be fulfilled unless he ends the fight in his signature fashion.

“I was hoping to knock him out. I felt pretty good about my game plan going in and I felt like I executed my game plan really well. I just didn’t expect him to have quite that good of a chin,” said Henderson.

Henderson impressively carved out the win by landing uppercuts and straights to counter Palhares who constantly charged in search for a takedown.

“I tried to catch him on the way in and punish him, and wear him out trying to take me down.”

At one point in the second round however, Henderson found himself in a dangerous predicament when Palhares almost secured a kneebar-heelhook.

“I wasn’t worried at anytime during that. Obviously I was aware that he’s good on the ground, so I wanted to avoid that if I could, but I was comfortable. I felt that I was able to hang with him. That’s pretty much what happened, he had a couple of opportunities on the ground and I got out. I wasn’t in trouble at all. I wasn’t nervous about it, I just made sure that I wasn’t going to stay in certain positions,’ said Henderson.

Henderson went on to deconstruct Palhares with strikes throughout the fight, although he was never quite able to put him away.

“He just had a good chin. You rock them, and they fall back to their butt, and it’s hard to finish sometimes. He didn’t stand in there very well and allow me to finish him. I guess that was a good thing for him,” Henderson proclaimed.

With three fights remaining on his UFC contract, Henderson is faced with the same realization that Couture and Liddell are dealing with; age and time. What took them years to gain in experience and knowledge throughout their MMA careers is now being threatened by a younger generation that is closing the gap on the experience factor.

“Absolutely, it’s definitely an experience sport. That’s the thing, a lot of these guys are getting experience at a younger age.”

While MMA fans are witnessing an explosion of young talent entering the UFC, Henderson has gone to class with the old and the young within the school of hard knocks. Henderson said that three of his toughest opponents were Nogueira and Wanderlei in Pride, and Anderson Silva in the UFC.

Speaking of the experience factor, fans are on the verge of what might be the most lopsided (experience) matchup between veteran Randy Couture and rookie Brock Lesnar in November. It may come as no surprise that Henderson’s alliance lies with the most tried and tested man in the business.

“I have to go with Randy, although Lesnar is a big beast that’s very athletic. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen with that. Randy has too much experience and he’s a good enough wrestler to wear Brock out a little bit.”

During a point of reflection, Henderson took the time to remember one of the UFC’s most respected veterans, the late Evan Tanner. Henderson closely worked with Tanner in the early stages of their careers.

“I did know Evan. I trained with him for a while up in Oregon. He was a great guy and it’s sad,” Henderson recalled.

While most admired Tanner as they do Henderson for his contributions to the sport, there are a few things that he may never see happen during his tenure with the UFC.

“I would like to see the purses get a little bit bigger. Somewhat like boxing where most of the purse goes to the fighter and not the promoter. I would like to see that happen. I see fighters who can match up with anybody in the world, not just guys that are brought up in the UFC or various promotions.”

Since his second coming into the UFC in 2007 however, Henderson said his relationship with Dana White and the UFC has been pleasurable.

“I’ve got no complaints with Dana or about Dana at all. He’s treated me well. Every fighter thinks that they should be getting paid more. That will never change,” said the former champion.

Regarding any sort of future fighter’s union, he agreed that the possibility of the notion is probably a long shot.

“Yeah, that would be nice, but I don’t think it will ever happen. There are too many guys that are lined up on the street corner willing to fight for nothing,” Henderson stated.

Success in and out of fighting is something that Henderson has proudly achieved. While there is no mention of who he may be fighting in the future, Henderson will continue to be a proud father, a good role model, and fan favorite throughout the sport.