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Dan Henderson's 15 years in the 18-year-old sport of mixed martial arts render "Hendo" one of the 10 greatest mixed fighters of all-time.
As he next prepares to challenge UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones – the youngest titleholder in octagon history – the question arises: Is Jones facing the greatest of all-time?
At 41 years old (perhaps 42 depending on when the title bout is officially set), Henderson enters his UFC clash for the gold against a fighter indicative of MMA's new sporting future – one who is an entire senior-prom-going teenager younger than the veteran. It's a classic title fight storyline: the decorated former champion challenging the ascendant crown-wearing dominator of the division. Weighing Henderson's accomplishments makes it all the more compelling.
Henderson's current resume boasts 10 wins over big-show champions: Carlos Newton, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Rafael Cavalcante, Fedor Emelianenko and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. That is victory against at least six future Hall of Famers plus the legendary Renzo Gracie, a yesteryear fighter before title accolades were in serious vogue. Comparatively, Anderson Silva, who's generally the current consensus greatest fighter ever, has six champions on his ledger. Georges St-Pierre has three.
The reason Silva carries that nebulous distinction is a March 2008 second-round rear-naked-choke defeat of Henderson.
That's the hang-up in calling Henderson the greatest all-time. Silva's unprecedented 14-0 run through the UFC, which includes a record nine consecutive title defenses, is a defining streak of longevity that has always eluded Henderson. After starting his career 9-0, Henderson's win column is almost entirely comprised of three- and four-fight win streaks – like the four fights he currently rides vs. Jones – interrupted by one of eight career losses.
Still, that's just eight losses in 15 years. Of the eight opponents to walk away victorious against Henderson, only Ricardo Arona (split decision) and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (armbar) have not held notable titles. Half (Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva) are surefire Hall of Famers. Henderson also holds victories over three (Misaki, Wanderlei Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) of the opponents who defeated him. However, none of the four fighters to best Anderson Silva wore a significant championship belt in his career.
Where Henderson surpasses Silva is in his divisional jumping. Like Henderson, Silva has been successful in three weight classes albeit with much less frequency. Defeating Shooto welterweight kingpin Hayato Sakurai in 2001 and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in 2008 account for his out-of-division success. Henderson, meanwhile, enjoyed the greatest victories of his career – Wanderlei Silva, "Shogun" and Emlianenko – above his natural weight of 185 pounds. A preference to fight larger combatants at light heavyweight was comically apparent in Henderson's Strikeforce title grab versus Rafael Cavalcante, a man so thickly muscled no scale should ever register him as a 205-pounder. No matter size differentials, Henderson's heavy-handed "H-Bomb" spun around "Feijao" and sent him to the mat face down.
Then there are the accolades all Henderson's own. Fighters to seize the major titles in two weight classes can be counted on one hand. Henderson is the first and only fighter to simultaneously hold two major belts, the PRIDE middleweight (205 pounds) and welterweight (183 pounds) titles. In addition to multiple titles, he is one of few to ever win two high-profile tournaments: UFC 17's middleweight-bracket victory and the following year, Rings' Kings of Kings 1999 open-weight tournament.
Crumbling the most storied heavyweight in the sport, Emelianenko, in less than five minutes further elevates Henderson's status to serious all-time greatest consideration. Not to mention arguably the second greatest heavyweight of all-time in Nogueira is also in his win column. The significance in jumping up two weight classes to best the two greatest heavyweights of the generation is a feat that cannot be understated. Recall the infamous scene in Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" in which the master director illustrates Jake Lamotta's pugilistic delusions by suggesting he would like to challenge heavyweight champ Joe Louis. Henderson essentially did that, and did so with his trademark toothless smile.
The case against Henderson is a 1-3 record in his most recent title bouts. Earning back-to-back UFC title shots on the strength of his historic PRIDE feat, he fell to light-heavyweight champ "Rampage" via hard-fought unanimous decision in September 2007. He then tapped out to middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva six months later. Working his way back to a No. 1 contender's bid at 185 pounds to challenge Silva once more, contract negotiations found Henderson leaving the octagon for Strikeforce, where his organizational debut was upset by middleweight champion Jake Shields. Capturing Strikeforce's 205-pound belt from Cavalcante exercised some of these demons from Henderson's past and put him on the path that scored perhaps the two greatest victories – the ones that lead him to Jones – of his Hall of Fame career versus Emelianenko and Rua, back to back.
Henderson is nearly a four-to-one underdog on the betting lines versus "Bones" Jones. If Jones' divisional dominance sustains, he can make the case he did so against the greatest fighter of all-time.
If Henderson stops Jones' ferocious title run comprised of former titleholders, there may be little controversy in calling him the greatest ever.
As he next prepares to challenge UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones – the youngest titleholder in octagon history – the question arises: Is Jones facing the greatest of all-time?
At 41 years old (perhaps 42 depending on when the title bout is officially set), Henderson enters his UFC clash for the gold against a fighter indicative of MMA's new sporting future – one who is an entire senior-prom-going teenager younger than the veteran. It's a classic title fight storyline: the decorated former champion challenging the ascendant crown-wearing dominator of the division. Weighing Henderson's accomplishments makes it all the more compelling.
Henderson's current resume boasts 10 wins over big-show champions: Carlos Newton, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Rafael Cavalcante, Fedor Emelianenko and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. That is victory against at least six future Hall of Famers plus the legendary Renzo Gracie, a yesteryear fighter before title accolades were in serious vogue. Comparatively, Anderson Silva, who's generally the current consensus greatest fighter ever, has six champions on his ledger. Georges St-Pierre has three.
The reason Silva carries that nebulous distinction is a March 2008 second-round rear-naked-choke defeat of Henderson.
That's the hang-up in calling Henderson the greatest all-time. Silva's unprecedented 14-0 run through the UFC, which includes a record nine consecutive title defenses, is a defining streak of longevity that has always eluded Henderson. After starting his career 9-0, Henderson's win column is almost entirely comprised of three- and four-fight win streaks – like the four fights he currently rides vs. Jones – interrupted by one of eight career losses.
Still, that's just eight losses in 15 years. Of the eight opponents to walk away victorious against Henderson, only Ricardo Arona (split decision) and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (armbar) have not held notable titles. Half (Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva) are surefire Hall of Famers. Henderson also holds victories over three (Misaki, Wanderlei Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) of the opponents who defeated him. However, none of the four fighters to best Anderson Silva wore a significant championship belt in his career.
Where Henderson surpasses Silva is in his divisional jumping. Like Henderson, Silva has been successful in three weight classes albeit with much less frequency. Defeating Shooto welterweight kingpin Hayato Sakurai in 2001 and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in 2008 account for his out-of-division success. Henderson, meanwhile, enjoyed the greatest victories of his career – Wanderlei Silva, "Shogun" and Emlianenko – above his natural weight of 185 pounds. A preference to fight larger combatants at light heavyweight was comically apparent in Henderson's Strikeforce title grab versus Rafael Cavalcante, a man so thickly muscled no scale should ever register him as a 205-pounder. No matter size differentials, Henderson's heavy-handed "H-Bomb" spun around "Feijao" and sent him to the mat face down.
Then there are the accolades all Henderson's own. Fighters to seize the major titles in two weight classes can be counted on one hand. Henderson is the first and only fighter to simultaneously hold two major belts, the PRIDE middleweight (205 pounds) and welterweight (183 pounds) titles. In addition to multiple titles, he is one of few to ever win two high-profile tournaments: UFC 17's middleweight-bracket victory and the following year, Rings' Kings of Kings 1999 open-weight tournament.
Crumbling the most storied heavyweight in the sport, Emelianenko, in less than five minutes further elevates Henderson's status to serious all-time greatest consideration. Not to mention arguably the second greatest heavyweight of all-time in Nogueira is also in his win column. The significance in jumping up two weight classes to best the two greatest heavyweights of the generation is a feat that cannot be understated. Recall the infamous scene in Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" in which the master director illustrates Jake Lamotta's pugilistic delusions by suggesting he would like to challenge heavyweight champ Joe Louis. Henderson essentially did that, and did so with his trademark toothless smile.
The case against Henderson is a 1-3 record in his most recent title bouts. Earning back-to-back UFC title shots on the strength of his historic PRIDE feat, he fell to light-heavyweight champ "Rampage" via hard-fought unanimous decision in September 2007. He then tapped out to middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva six months later. Working his way back to a No. 1 contender's bid at 185 pounds to challenge Silva once more, contract negotiations found Henderson leaving the octagon for Strikeforce, where his organizational debut was upset by middleweight champion Jake Shields. Capturing Strikeforce's 205-pound belt from Cavalcante exercised some of these demons from Henderson's past and put him on the path that scored perhaps the two greatest victories – the ones that lead him to Jones – of his Hall of Fame career versus Emelianenko and Rua, back to back.
Henderson is nearly a four-to-one underdog on the betting lines versus "Bones" Jones. If Jones' divisional dominance sustains, he can make the case he did so against the greatest fighter of all-time.
If Henderson stops Jones' ferocious title run comprised of former titleholders, there may be little controversy in calling him the greatest ever.
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