#8
Dan Henderson
“Hendo”
(Strikeforce Champion)
(Strikeforce Champion)
Record: 27-8
Age: 40
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs
Fighting out of: Temecula, California
Style: Greco-Roman Wrestling, Boxing
He began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW).[10]In his first year of MMA competition, Henderson won the Brazil Open, a four-man heavyweight tournament. Just one year later, he won the UFC 17 tournament, defeating Allan Goes and Carlos Newton. In his next MMA fight, Henderson defeated five opponents over the course of two events to claim the 1999 RINGS King of Kings title. He won two fights on October 28, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan, to qualify for the finals, and then beat Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato Sobral on the evening of February 26, 2000, to win the tournament.
Henderson later found a home with the Pride Fighting Championships, competing primarily in the middleweight (205 lb) division. In Pride, Henderson competed against many of the sport's elite fighters including Wanderlei Silva, Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Rua, Murilo Bustamante, Yuki Kondo, Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono.
When Pride began its Bushido brand, Henderson won their first welterweight 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) tournament, defeating Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono by knockout, and then defeating Bustamante by split decision in the finals to capture the welterweight title. At Pride Bushido 10, Henderson defeated Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision after hurting him with strikes on numerous occasions. Henderson later entered the second Pride Welterweight Grand Prix, losing by decision in a rematch with Misaki.
Henderson's final Pride bout was a rematch with Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 24, 2007, where he scored a one-punch knockout victory to become Middleweight Champion, while still holding his Welterweight title. Henderson became the first fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA organization.
On September 8, 2007, Henderson returned to the UFC to face light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 75 in London, England. In a closely contested fight that saw Henderson impose his will early, Jackson controlled the later rounds and won a five-round unanimous decision to retain his title and gain the Pride middleweight title.
On November 17, 2007, it was announced during the post fight at UFC 78 that Henderson would fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva to unify the Pride welterweight (183 lb) and UFC middleweight (185 lb) championships. UFC 82 took place on March 1, 2008 and was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Despite winning the first round, Henderson lost via submission at 4:52 of the second round by rear naked choke.
Henderson bounced back from his inauspicious start in the UFC with a victory over highly-touted Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88, winning by unanimous decision. It was his first win in the UFC in over ten years. After the bout, Henderson laughed and said, "Hopefully I don't have to wait that long before I get my next win."
Henderson returned to the light heavyweight division to face former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin on January 17, 2009, at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Henderson won the fight via a split decision following an eye-poke in the third round that many, including Franklin himself, thought was intentional. He was subsequently selected to lead Team U.S. on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, with Michael Bisping coaching the opposing Team UK.
The reality TV show, which spawned a feud between the two coaches that continued until their fight, aired on Spike TV and premiered on April 1, 2009, with the live finale on June 20, 2009 in Las Vegas. Dan received a high-end Land Rover for being coach on the show, along with Bisping.
On July 11, 2009 at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Henderson and Bisping settled their differences with their fists, culminating with Henderson becoming the first man to knock Bisping out, doing so in the second round with a right hook to the jaw as Bisping was circling to Henderson's right. This win put Henderson back into contention for a title shot at the UFC Middleweight Champion. The knockout punch also won Henderson a $100,000 bonus for "Knockout of the Night."
Controversy arose from the fight due to Henderson immediately following up his knockout punch with a flying forearm-drop to the prone Bisping's head shortly before referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight at 3:20.[11] Immediately after the fight, Henderson addressed the issue of the final blow to the knocked-out Bisping, saying "Normally I'm not that way in fights. I know if the guy's out, I tend to stop. I knew I hit him out and I think that one was just to shut him up a little bit."[12]
After UFC president Dana White said Henderson had made those comments in jest, Henderson clarified stating, "When you're in the heat of the moment, the ref hadn't stopped me yet, who knows what's going to happen, if he's going to recover. I really only hit him twice, once on my feet, once on the ground. I didn't keep going. I didn't go after him after the ref tried to stop me, it was nothing like that. It was a reaction of mine to keep going until I was stopped—and you know, it did feel good though."[13]
Dan Henderson signed a four-fight, 16-month deal with Strikeforce on December 5, 2009, after his contract expired with the UFC. Henderson made his Strikeforce debut on April 17, 2010 at Strikeforce on CBS against Jake Shields.[14] Henderson, who also fights at light heavyweight, is being eyed for a matchup against Gegard Mousasi.[15] Henderson has also expressed interest in eventually fighting World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at some point during his new contract.[16] Henderson lost his Strikeforce debut to Jake Shields. Despite hurting Shields and knocking him down in the 1st round, Henderson went on to lose by unanimous decision. The majority of the last rounds were spent on the ground where Shields controlled the fight via grappling. (49–46, 49–45, 48–45).
Henderson faced Renato Sobral on December 4, 2010 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu.[17] Henderson won the fight via KO at 1:53 of the first round.
Henderson defeated Rafael Cavalcante via third round TKO for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship at Strikeforce 32. After a close first two rounds in which all three judges had the score tied 19-19, Henderson dropped Cavalcante with his famed right hand, nicknamed the “H-Bomb” by announcer Mauro Ranallo. Cavalcante went down face first, and could not recover, taking six shots on the ground before referee Dan Miragliotta called the fight off at the 0:50 mark.[18]
Henderson is expected to face Fedor Emelianenko in July 2011 at an unnamed Strikeforce event. [19][20]
This fight will most likely take place on July 30th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Henderson
