Though he was able to pick up two wins in his three fights in 2017, featherweight Tyrone Henderson does not look back fondly on last year.
While he was able to be largely successful inside the cage, things that transpired made 2017 one of the most difficult years to date for Henderson.
“2017 was a bad year for me,” Henderson told MMAWeekly.com. “I was going through a divorce and dealing with several injuries. I’m such a competitor I never back down from a fight. I had been fighting for such a long time that mentally I knew how to gather myself and get back on the right track.
“It took a lot of mental strength and resiliency, surrounding myself around positive energy and positive people, to get myself back into the mental state and physical shape I needed to be in.”
When it comes to his fights themselves, Henderson says his wins over Steve Wing in October and Wyatt Gonzalez in December, where pretty indicative of his style of fighting.
“Anybody who knows me knows I’m a finisher,” said Henderson. “I finish fights. I get in and I get out. I’m not trying to be in there for the whole three or five rounds. If you look at my record, every fight I’ve won has been in the first round. I don’t play games.
“I wanted to fight Wyatt Gonzalez specifically because he was the one I lost to that I shouldn’t have lost to. I lost against him the first time because I let my ego get the best of my training.”
On Saturday in Tacoma, Wash., Henderson (5-3-1) will look to keep his winning streak alive against prospect Terrance McKinney (2-0) in a main card 145-pound bout at CageSport 49.
“I respect him as a fighter, but there’s no way he lasting out of the first round,” Henderson said of McKinney. “I’m too much of a talent. I’m stronger than him. I’m faster than him.
“I’m an underdog, but I actually called this fight out because I want him to know he hasn’t fought anybody. He knows when I go to get him that he’s not lasting out of the first round. He’s going to try to waste time and go all three rounds, but I won’t let him.”
Now that he’s gotten his career back on track, Henderson’s next goal is to truly make a name for himself in the featherweight division.
“I want to be the champion of Cagesport MMA,” said Henderson. “I want to get to a point where I don’t even have to ask for a title shot, they’ll give it to me like candy. I want to get to a point where people talk about the 145lb weight class they can’t do it without mentioning my name.
“I’m setting a plan into place to get a route to my ultimate goal. I don’t want anyone in the state of Washington to mention MMA without bringing my name up.”