Ben Henderson refuses to disclose injury that canceled Michael Johnson fight at TUF 21 Finale

When Ben Henderson withdrew from his much-anticipated lightweight clash against Michael Johnson -- which was planned for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 21 Finale on July 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada -- not much reason was given for the move.

But during a recent stop on The MMA Hour, "Smooth" revealed that an injury is what forced him to bow out of his scrap against "The Menace."

And if you were hoping to discover what exactly is hindering the former UFC lightweight champion, keep guessing, as Henderson kept his secret to himself... and his doctor.

"I had an injury. I won't be cleared for a little while. So, I had to respectfully bow out of that one. I was kind of disappointed in myself. But, you have to do what the doctors say because ultimately, they have to do the paperwork and sign off for you, and my doc wouldn't do that. I'm not cleared, but I'll be ready in, I'm hoping they will put me on the card in Korea in November. I am definitely willing to wait to be on that card. Training, man, it's a rough sport. We get punched, kicked and choked. Your buddies, they train with you every day and they know your weak spots and what you are good at and what you are not good at. It was just training, it wasn't even a hard sparring session. It was a nice and easy training session. You get injured, it's the nature of the beast, I suppose."

He continues:

"I probably won't ever say what exactly it is, you know? I will say it's by far, because with some of those injuries, you're hurt, you are injured, but the rest of your body feels perfectly fine. In that sense, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. I felt fine, I wanted to go do whatever but not being allowed to even though the rest of your body feels just fine. But, I probably won't ever fully disclose what it is. Maybe later on, sometime, but, you know, whatever."

Could it have been toothpick related?

During the interview, Benson was told that Johnson had recently revealed that it was an eye injury that forced the scratch. An allegation Henderson replied by saying, "it was in that area."

Damn you "Bendo" and your mysterious ways.

Nevertheless, that's as much as we are apparently going to get out of Henderson, who says his timetable isn't set, but reiterated that he wants to return to action on Nov. 28, 2015 to take part in UFC's first-ever trip to South Korea (more on that here), largely because he is part Korean on his mother's side.

And he'll be fighting as a welterweight, as Ben says he is prepping his body in order to unveil an entirely new fighter the next time he steps foot inside the cage.

Let the speculation begin...