Dan Henderson
Daniel Jeffery Henderson is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion of Pride Fighting Championships. He was the only double champion in the history of Pride FC.
Henderson was the Brazil Open '97 Tournament Champion, the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Champion, the Rings: King of Kings 1999 Tournament Champion and the Pride Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. Henderson also challenged for the UFC Middleweight Championship, the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Henderson was the first mixed martial artist to hold two titles in two different weight classes concurrently in a major MMA promotion. At the time of his retirement after UFC 204, he was the oldest fighter on the UFC roster. Henderson's notable wins include four PRIDE champions, six UFC champions, 2 Strikeforce champions, 1 Bellator champion, and 1 Pancrase champion, and he is ranked by Fight Matrix as one of the 15 greatest mixed martial artists of all time pound for pound.
Wrestling career
Dan Henderson was born in Downey, California, and grew up in Apple Valley, California. He competed in freestyle wrestling, but is much better known for his achievements in Greco-Roman wrestling.He attended Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, and earned medals at the California State Wrestling Championships in 1987 and 1988. He placed second in 1987 and fifth in 1988. He was a member of the 1987 Victor Valley High School wrestling team state champions. In 1988 Henderson became a national junior champion in both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.
After high school Henderson delayed pursuing a college wrestling career, yet he would go to wrestle a season each at Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State University. He qualified for the 1993 NCAA championships.
In Greco-Roman wrestling Henderson became the university national champion in 1991, 1993, and 1994. He was the national champion at the senior level in 1993, 1994, and 1997. He represented the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics and placed 10th and 12th, respectively.
Henderson competed at the World Wrestling Championships in 1994 and 1997, placing 12th and 7th respectively. Other notable accomplishments include a bronze medal at the 1995 Pan American Games and a gold medal in the 2000 Pan American Championships. At this competition Henderson upset Luis Enrique Méndez in the final.
Henderson failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympics. He reached the 2001 world team trials finals, but was defeated by Matt Lindland, and after that focused on an MMA career.
Henderson was also assistant wrestling coach at Cerritos College during the 1990s.
Mixed martial arts career
Henderson began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team.Brazil Open Tournament
1997 saw Henderson make his debut in MMA, following in the footsteps of other wrestlers who were finding success in the sport. Henderson entered the Brazil Open Lightweight Tournament, which had a weight limit of 176 pounds, the lightest Henderson would ever compete at. It was a one-night tournament, featuring four competitors. After two relatively quick finishes, Henderson won the championship.UFC 17
Less than one year later, Henderson entered his second MMA tournament, also a four-man tournament to be completed in one night. This time however, the weight limit was 199 pounds. UFC 17 would mark the start of Henderson's on-again off-again relationship with the UFC, which would span nearly two decades. He defeated Allan Goes and Carlos Newton in closely contested contests to earn his second MMA tournament championship. A punch delivered from Newton in their fight broke Henderson's jaw, but he continued fighting through it.Rings: King Of Kings
About eighteen months later, Henderson entered his third MMA tournament. This time the number of competitors was 32, and there was no weight limit for any of the fighters. The tournament would be held over the course of two nights. The first two rounds were held in late 1999, while the final three were in early 2000. The tournament was full of many notable competitors, and Henderson faced Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Renato Sobral. Despite weighing in at 199 pounds, and routinely being outweighed by more than 30 pounds, Henderson won all five of his fights, and became the Rings: King of Kings Tournament 1999 champion.PRIDE Fighting Championships
Henderson began competing in Pride Fighting Championships in late 2000. He entered in three tournaments for the organization, winning the Welterweight tournament at Pride Shockwave 2005 by defeating Murilo Bustamante by split decision. The opening two rounds of the eight-man tournament were fought at Pride Bushido 9, at which Henderson knocked out both Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono. Along with this tournament victory, he was awarded the Pride Welterweight Championship.In 2006, Henderson lost a decision in a rematch against Kazuo Misaki. It was the first time in that he had lost a fight to an opponent who was under 205 pounds. Henderson's final Pride bout was a rematch with Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 24, 2007, at which he scored a knockout victory to become Middleweight Champion, while still holding his Welterweight title. Henderson became the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously in a major MMA organization. Overall, Henderson went 13–5 with Pride, with eight victories coming by stoppage.
UFC return
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 and UFC middleweight 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. This fight earned him his first Fight of the Night award.
Henderson bounced back from his inauspicious start in the UFC with a victory over Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88, winning by unanimous decision. After ten years in the sport, it was his first UFC victory. 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, 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.
Coaching ''The Ultimate Fighter'' and aftermath
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.On July 11, 2009, at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Henderson and Bisping fought, culminating in Henderson becoming the first man to knock Bisping out, doing so in the second round with an overhand right 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 won Henderson a $100,000 bonus for "Knockout of the Night" and is considered one of the greatest knockouts in the history of the sport.
Controversy arose from the fight due to Henderson immediately following up his knockout punch with a flying forearm-drop to the undefended Bisping's head shortly before referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight at 3:20.
Immediately after the fight, Henderson stated that "I hit him hard, but I got that last blow in just to shut him up a little bit." After UFC president Dana White said Henderson had made the comment in jest, Henderson clarified by 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."
Strikeforce
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. He was also eyed for a light heavyweight match against Gegard Mousasi, and expressed interest in eventually fighting Fedor Emelianenko at some point during his contract.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..
Henderson faced Renato Sobral on December 4, 2010, at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu. 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 two rounds in which all three judges had the score tied 19–19, Henderson dropped Cavalcante with his famed right hand in the third before referee Dan Miragliotta called the fight off at the 0:50 mark.
Henderson fought Fedor Emelianenko on July 30, 2011, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. Many had speculated that Henderson would meet Fedor at a catch weight, but Strikeforce later confirmed the fight as a heavyweight bout. Henderson said, "Its tough for me to gain weight. I did weightlifting and plenty of eating; I don't know what else I'm supposed to do. I'm not going to feel outmatched or small in there." He had to step on the scales weighing at least 206 pounds in order to qualify for the heavyweight division, and weighed in at 207. Fedor weighed in a bit below his normal weight, with the scale reading 223 pounds. Henderson defeated Emelianenko via KO at 4:12 of the 1st round. This was the last fight on Henderson's Strikeforce contract. Henderson said he would like to re-sign to defend his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.