So, we're putting Dan Henderson in the UFC Hall of Fame, right?

The UFC Hall of Fame is far from a perfect institution for honoring the UFC’s and MMA’s best.

Sure, some long-overdue inductees were added in recent years, and the organization has been doing a better job of mixing in trailblazers with its modern-era enshrinees. The improvements are due, in large part, to the new categories/wings for the hall – “Pioneer,” “Modern-era,” “Contributors” and “Fights.” Some glaring omissions remain – and we still need an overall MMA Hall of Fame to recognize non-UFC fighters – but now more than ever, deserving fighters are getting their due respect.

So is it any wonder why Dan Henderson (32-15 MMA, 9-9 UFC), who closed out a remarkable MMA career with a narrow unanimous-decision loss to middleweight champion Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 204 headliner, is apparently a surefire member of the UFC Hall of Fame? After all, you could make an argument for sticking Henderson in any one – or all – of the wings.

“Oh, absolutely,” UFC President Dana White told reporter/host Megan Olivi when asked if Henderson is a “shoo-in” for the UFC Hall of Fame (via YouTube). “Dan Henderson, what he’s accomplished – and the fact this guy is 46 years old and still fighting – is insane. I just can’t even believe it.”

Henderson turned pro nearly 20 years ago. When he first entered the octagon – winning a single-night middleweight-tournament title at UFC 17 – the organization hadn’t even hosted a couple dozen shows. As MMA looked for legitimacy, Henderson was a clean-cut and well-spoken athlete with Olympic credentials. He was just what MMA needed as the industry slowly turned from spectacle to sport.

Yet, he’s competed at the top level for two decades in multiple weight classes – fighting all-time MMA greats like Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva and Daniel Cormier – and was a constant presence as the underground circus became a billion-dollar industry.

Henderson eventually won two titles with PRIDE, returned to the UFC as a title challenger, ventured to Strikeforce to win another belt, and then made one final trip to the UFC, which ended in a remarkably close title loss to his rival Bisping (check out the Bisping vs. Henderson video highlights). Henderson never won a UFC belt – arguably the only accomplishment that eluded him during his MMA career – and he’s just .500 under the UFC banner. But nearly every bout had serious stakes, and his contributions in and out of the cage are undeniable.

“Dan Henderson is an absolute warrior, one of the toughest guys to ever do it, and he’s still scary at this age,” White said after UFC 204, which aired on pay-per-view from Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. “If he didn’t want to retire today, he’d still be scary to people in that division.”

White didn’t mention any concrete plans for Henderson in the UFC Hall of Fame, though a 2017 induction certainly seems likely.

Henderson, meanwhile, said he felt like he deserved the win on Saturday, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll change his retirement plans.

“I feel like you have to ask me that in a few days,” he said. “But I felt like before this fight, I accomplished enough in the sport and was satisfied with that. But obviously, there was one more thing I wanted to do, and I really worked my ass off in training camp and thought I was ready to get it done.

“I’m a little frustrated, feeling I did get it done and didn’t get credit for it, I guess. But it is what it is now, and there’s no changing that, I don’t think. I’ve just got to live with it.”

Perhaps a UFC Hall of Fame induction will help make it a little easier to do that.

For complete coverage UFC 204, check out the UFC Events section of the site.