Dan Henderson’s UFC 199 bout with Hector Lombard will mark the final fight on his current UFC contract. It could also mark the final fight of his prestigious, Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Henderson, 45, is the oldest fighter on the UFC roster, and has been for several years. Retirement is a subject broached with him in almost every interview for the past half-decade, but “Hendo” would always shrug off questions.

The tune of the former Strikeforce and PRIDE champion has changed of late, though. Henderson (31-14 MMA, 8-8 UFC) said his middleweight showdown with Lombard (34-5-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) could be his last octagon appearance, but the final verdict will come down to his performance and whether the organization is interested in retaining his services afterward.

“I’m definitely capable of keeping on and still competing at a high level, but I’m almost ready to retire, and depending on how things play out after this fight with negotiations, yeah, it could be my last,” Henderson told MMAjunkie Radio. “Or maybe I’ll still fight. I don’t know yet. I’m at that point where I’m about ready, but definitely, I know in my heart I’m still capable of doing it and if I do decide to keep going on I’ll make sure I do it well.”

UFC 199 takes place June 4 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Henderson vs. Lombard is part of the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Henderson should have already completed the final fight on his UFC deal. He was supposed to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 19 in April, but just days before the fight “The Dragon” admitted to taking a banned substance and was pulled from the scheduled matchup.

It was a disappointing situation for Henderson, who at his age can’t afford to lose any time when it comes to his fight career. The UFC partially made up for it, though, because instead of traveling across the country for UFC on FOX 19 in Florida, Henderson gets to compete in his home state of California.

“When they told me what had happened with Lyoto they had already had this on the books with Hector Lombard, June 4th, in L.A.,” Henderson said. “Just to soften the blow they already had that arranged.”

Although Henderson was forced to jump from one training camp right into another in order to be fully prepared for UFC 199, the benefit is he gets to alter training for a more simplistic opponent.

Machida is one of the most complex and elusive fighters to ever step foot in the octagon, and even though Henderson fought him to a narrow split decision at UFC 157 in February 2013, game planning for the former UFC champ is no easy task.

Lombard, meanwhile, is much more rudimentary, but also arguably more dangerous. The former Bellator champ shares a trait with Henderson in that his knockout power is amongst the most crippling in the sport. He’s also as durable as they come, which means Henderson is going to need to do something significant to win the fight.

Henderson said he embraces the challenge of fighting Lombard the same way he’s embraced every other test over the course of his 19-year, 45-fight career.

“Instead of fighting a guy that runs all the time I got a guy that runs at you the whole time – at least for the first few minutes,” Henderson said. “It’s a totally different style, just a completely different fighter I’m training for. It is what it is I think it’s – the fight with Hector Lombard is definitely something the fans will enjoy more than watching Machida run around the whole time.”

And for more on UFC 199, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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