MMA Legacy 7.06.09: Dan Henderson
Posted by Bill Wannop on 07.06.2009
Completing our build to UFC 100 MMA Legacy examines the career of Dan Henderson before his big matchup with Micheal Bisping. From his initial run in the UFC, to becoming a Dual champion in PRIDE, to ending up back in the UFC to unify the titles! Dan Henderson has had some MMA wars, and MMA Legacy will relive those great battles!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. Finishing up the build to UFC 100, MMA Legacy will take a look at the career of one of the fighters in the last main event of the evening, former PRIDE dual champion Dan Henderson
Growing Up
Dan Henderson was born August 24, 1970 (making him 38 today) in Apple Valley, California. Dan has always been known for his strong wrestling and one of the main reasons is because he started wrestling at the age of 5. When he finally got to high school where they actually had a wrestling team his wrestling skills were much greater then everyone else and he earned metals twice at the California State Wrestling Championships for Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California.
Dan would use his wrestling to get into University, or more likely that he went to University in order to continue wrestling. He first went to Cal State Fullerton then Arizona State, and in 1993 participated in the NCAA championships. Dan was also an Olympian and represented the United States at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Greco Roman Wrestling. Although he didn't metal either year (he placed 10th in 1992 and 12th in 1996) he has stated that being at the games was a great life experience.
Following the Olympics, when his varsity eligibility expired, Dan still had the passion for wrestling, so he began to fight in order to make enough money to continue to wrestle. He began training MMA in 1997 and continued to wrestle for another 3 years while he was training in MMA. When he first started he had no desire to continue fighting for long let alone to have it become his career.
MMA Career
In preparation for his MMA debut, Dan joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW). His first fight took place on June 15, 1997 when Dan entered the 4 man Brazil open Tournament. In the first round Dan faced Crezio de Souza and ended the fight in the first round by TKO from strikes to advance in the tournament. In the finals of the tournament later that evening, Dan faced off against Eric Smith and ended the fight 0:30 seconds into the first round with a Guillotine.
Early UFC A little under a year later in his next fight, Dan got invited by the UFC to take part in a middleweight tournament at UFC 17: Redemption. In the first round Dan faced Allan Goes whom he defeated by unanimous decision to advance. Later that evening Dan would face Carlos Newton in the finals. This fight really showcased Henderson's heart and conditioning as Newton was able to finish his first round opponent rather quickly and was the fresher of the two men. In the fight, it was a back and forth battle with lots of scrambles but Dan finally was able to use his dirty boxing to wear down Newton. At the end of regulation time Dan was ahead on the score cards, but could not finish Newton so they went to an overtime period. In overtime, Newton was able to rock Henderson a couple times but could not finish him so the fight went to the scorecards where Dan won the split decision victory to win the tournament. It was speculated that Dan would be next in line to face champion Frank Shamrock, but Dan was more interested in wrestling then fighting and turned the offer down.
It would be over a year and a half before Dan's next fight on October 28, 1999 where Dan participated in the RINGS: King of the Block A tournament. Dan defeated both his opponents (one by TKO due to strikes and one by split decision) to win the block A pool and advance to the tournament finals. The finals were held on February 26, 2000 at RINGS: King of Kings 1999 Final and Dan defeated both Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Renato Sobral all by decision to win the tournament.
It was around this time in 2000, that Dan Henderson along with Matt Lindland and Randy Couture opened up their own training facility, Team Quest, where Henderson currently resides.
PRIDE
It was about this time that Dan started to focus more on fighting and determined that he could actually make this a career. He signed a multi fight deal with PRIDE with his first fight being on December 9, 2000 at PRIDE 12: Cold Fury against Wanderlei Silva. This fight had an insane fight round, as right from the bell Silva dropped Henderson with punches in the opening seconds. Henderson was able to weather the storm and once the fighters got back to their feet, Henderson was able to crack Silva with a right that completely rocks him! Silva hits an illegal knee later in the round and after the restart gets Henderson on the ground where he stomps Henderson in the head. Silva then performs his trademark move where he punches his opponent in the face, while holding his throat ala Keith Jardine. Silva then proceeds to end the round by stomping on Henderson some more. Both guys are a mess after the first round but Henderson was the worse of the two. In the second round Henderson is able to regroup and use some dirty boxing to cause some more damage but it is not enough as the fight ends and Silva is declared the victor by unanimous decision giving Dan his first loss.
Dan would bounce back at PRIDE 13: Collision Course against Renzo Gracie where he scored his first KO victory in the first round. Dan would then make short work of Akira Shoji by TKO at PRIDE 14: Clash of Titans, before going the distance against Murilo Rua at PRIDE 17: Championship Chaos. In the fight Rua dominated the first two rounds by having superior positioning but not doing any real damage. In the third round Henderson came alive and rocked Rua with knees and punches coming close to finishing the fight. The fight went to a decision, and this is where PRIDE judging is better in my opinion as they judge based on the whole fight and not rounds like the UFC. While Rua probably did win rounds 1 and 2, he did no damage in either round, on the other hand, in round 3 Henderson hurt Rua badly and almost ended the fight earning the unanimous decision victory.
The year 2002 would be a tougher year for Dan as he had 2 fights at PRIDE 20: Armed and Ready against Ricado Arona and PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The first fight against Arona went the distance. Dan did well in the first round, but in round 2 and 3 he began to tire giving the ground advantage to Arona who maintained mount for a while in the third frame giving him the spit decision victory. Next against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Dan lost due to an armbar in the third round. That was the first time that Dan had been finished in his MMA career.
Following the first back to back losses of his career, Dan came back strong defeating Shungo Oyama, Murilo Bustamante, and Kazuhiro Nakamura in the first round and Yuki Condo by split decision, bringing his MMA record to 16-3. This would lead to a match with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005. The match was fast paced in the first round with Henderson getting takedowns and throwing wild punches, however nearing the end of the round Henderson looked tired and winded. He eventually attempts a takedown that gets reversed allowing Nogueira to finish in the same way his brother did, by armbar.
Dual PRIDE Champion
Following the loss Henderson would again go on a tear, defeating Ryo Chonan, and Akihiro Gomo in the first round by punches to finish out 2005. He would then get his first title shot against a man he had already defeated in Murilo Bustamante for the PRIDE welterweight title at PRIDE: Shockwave 2005. In what was a much more competitive matchup then before, Dan seemed to steal the fight with a late takedown in the final round and earned a split decision victory to earn his first major title (185lbs).
Following the victory Dan would fight in a non-title fight on April 2, 2006 against Kazuo Misaki at PRIDE Bushido 10. It was a back and forth matchup with Dan using his takedowns and punching power to earn a unanimous decision victory. Following the victory 4 months later the two would meet again in a non title middleweight tournament at PRIDE: Bushido 12. Another hotly contested matchup which saw Misaki earning the unanimous decision victory; however since it was tournament bout, Dan kept his title.
Dan would finish up the year with a fight with Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 32: the Real Deal, which was the first PRIDE event to be held outside Japan and was held in Las Vegas. Dan would again earn a unanimous decision victory by utilizing his takedowns to finish out the year and bring his MMA record to 21-5.
At the beginning of 2007 Dan would get a title shot at Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE 33: The Second Coming. In what was an all out war, Dan avenged his previous loss and knocked out Silva in the third round with a left hook that was set up by a spinning back fist. This made history as Dan was the first man in PRIDE to hold title belts in two different weight classes.
Back to the UFC Shortly after the UFC purchased PRIDE, Dan was one of the fighters whom was brought in to the UFC. The first order of business was to unify the two title belts. The first matchup was with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to unify the 205lbs titles at UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion. In one of the best fights of 2007, Dan Henderson took Rampage to a decision after 5 rounds of back and forth action, with Rampage edging out the victory to become the undisputed champion.
Soon after that fight Henderson was in another title fight, this time against Anderson Silva to unify the 185lbs titles at UFC 82: PRIDE of a Champion. In the first round Dan executed his plan perfectly taking down Silva, and using ground and pound to win the round, although he did not inflict too much damage. However things went differently in the second round when Silva would rock Henderson with some shots, and a kick to the head. While stunned Silva was able to take Dan's back and force him to submit right as the round expired, handing Dan his second back to back losses of his career (although they were both championship fights).
Following this fight Dan would stay in the middleweight division and have a matchup with up and comer Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88: Breakthrough. Palhares was a BJJ black belt and desperately wanted to get the fight to the ground. He did get it there briefly on a couple of occasions but Henderson was able to escape all submission attempts and grind out a unanimous decision victory.
After that Henderson would jump back to the light heavyweight division against former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson to determine who would become the coach of season 9 of the Ultimate Fighter reality series. The fight was back and forth but not quite as exciting as many people predicted, with Henderson earning a split decision victory to earn himself the coaching job.
With the conclusion of the Ultimate Fighter 9, Dan Henderson showed some personality mainly with his snide remarks, but throughout the entire show displayed his calm and coolness never getting upset or out of control. No matter what happened, nothing seemed to bother him. He displayed a sense of being a great coach that was willing to go all out to help a fighter if they gave all their effort. At the end of the season Henderson brought up his feelings regarding opposing coach Bisping, calling him an ok guy but mainly a douche bag.
Future Outlook
Dan Henderson has a big matchup with Micheal Bisping at UFC 100 in what is most likely a #1 contender fight to determine who will get to challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. Henderson is the more experienced of the two fighters and seems to have the advantage in every aspect be it wrestling or striking, so unless Bisping shocks the world Henderson should gain the victory. After this fight, he should get a rematch with Silva for the title or perhaps if Anderson is busy in the light heavyweight division, it could set up a rematch with Wanderlei Silva to complete their trilogy. Dan Henderson has left a great Legacy in PRIDE and is beginning to leave one in the UFC. He is a bit older, but has not seemed to lose anything as of yet, so hopefully he continue to stay competitive and put on great fights. He is currently the # 2 ranked middleweight according to 411 Mania .
That does it for another week. Next week in another article originating from South Africa and with the aftermath of UFC 100 we will switch gears and begin the built towards Affliction: Trilogy by taking a peak at the career of someone who may end up back in the UFC, Vitor Belfort!
awesome stuff.... just wondering. was there a MMA legacy yet of brock lesnar and alves yet?!
Posted By: wylun (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 11:29 PM
Great article Mr. Wannop but I think it was A kick to the throat that rocked Henderson.
Posted By: Scottyieottie (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 01:14 AM
Great article Mr. Wannop but I think it was A kick to the throat that rocked Henderson.
Posted By: Scottyieottie (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 01:14 AM
If you're talking about the A.Silva-Hendo fight, then I think the kick you're refering too took place in the first round.
Anderson rocked Henderson with a knee from the clinch followed by a high kick.
"Silva then performs his trademark move where he punches his opponent in the face, while holding his throat ala Keith Jardine."
Also known as the rape choke.
Great Column!
Posted By: Samer Kadi (Registered) on July 06, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Underestimating Bisping again=big mistake
Posted By: nax (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 11:39 AM
This was a great article.
However, and this is just my opinion, I feel Henderson did a lot more to win the fight with Bustamante the second time than just a late takedown. Henderson actively tried to finish Bustamante with submissions. AND, Henderson also put Bustamante on the mat multiple times and knocked him down twice. Henderson did more to win that fight.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on July 06, 2009 at 06:57 PM
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Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. Finishing up the build to UFC 100, MMA Legacy will take a look at the career of one of the fighters in the last main event of the evening, former PRIDE dual champion Dan Henderson
Following the Olympics, when his varsity eligibility expired, Dan still had the passion for wrestling, so he began to fight in order to make enough money to continue to wrestle. He began training MMA in 1997 and continued to wrestle for another 3 years while he was training in MMA. When he first started he had no desire to continue fighting for long let alone to have it become his career.
A little under a year later in his next fight, Dan got invited by the UFC to take part in a middleweight tournament at UFC 17: Redemption. In the first round Dan faced Allan Goes whom he defeated by unanimous decision to advance. Later that evening Dan would face Carlos Newton in the finals. This fight really showcased Henderson's heart and conditioning as Newton was able to finish his first round opponent rather quickly and was the fresher of the two men. In the fight, it was a back and forth battle with lots of scrambles but Dan finally was able to use his dirty boxing to wear down Newton. At the end of regulation time Dan was ahead on the score cards, but could not finish Newton so they went to an overtime period. In overtime, Newton was able to rock Henderson a couple times but could not finish him so the fight went to the scorecards where Dan won the split decision victory to win the tournament. It was speculated that Dan would be next in line to face champion Frank Shamrock, but Dan was more interested in wrestling then fighting and turned the offer down.
The year 2002 would be a tougher year for Dan as he had 2 fights at PRIDE 20: Armed and Ready against Ricado Arona and PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The first fight against Arona went the distance. Dan did well in the first round, but in round 2 and 3 he began to tire giving the ground advantage to Arona who maintained mount for a while in the third frame giving him the spit decision victory. Next against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Dan lost due to an armbar in the third round. That was the first time that Dan had been finished in his MMA career.
Dan would finish up the year with a fight with Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 32: the Real Deal, which was the first PRIDE event to be held outside Japan and was held in Las Vegas. Dan would again earn a unanimous decision victory by utilizing his takedowns to finish out the year and bring his MMA record to 21-5.
Shortly after the UFC purchased PRIDE, Dan was one of the fighters whom was brought in to the UFC. The first order of business was to unify the two title belts. The first matchup was with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to unify the 205lbs titles at UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion. In one of the best fights of 2007, Dan Henderson took Rampage to a decision after 5 rounds of back and forth action, with Rampage edging out the victory to become the undisputed champion.
