But Dan Henderson is no quitter; in other words, he wanted another go around in the UFC in that weight class. After all, this is a man that has had a lot of success on wrestling mats and MMA rings/ Octagons in the past. He was accustomed to setting a goal and delivering.

In other words, Henderson did not want to move down to the UFC Middleweight Division.

“I want to head butt the guy every time I talk to him,” UFC President Dana White said regarding Henderson’s reluctance to move back down to a division that his size seemed more suited to. “He could be a force at (185), and it’d be a great match up (with Silva). But he’s very hard- headed.”

Perhaps Dana White was right; maybe Dan Henderson was simply being stubborn. And Hollywood’s own realization of this may just be the reason why the Dan Henderson - Anderson Silva fight is now going to happen at UFC 82.

Still, his reluctance to change divisions does seem to say something about his huge heart also. After all, this is a man that has seen it all during a 10 year MMA stretch where he has managed to accumulate a 22-6 record with 10 (T)KO’s and one submission victory. But that’s for later. For now. . .

Dan Henderson before the UFC and MMA

Dan “Hollywood” Henderson was born on August 24, 1970 in Apple Valley, California. The fact is that he started wrestling by the age of five. Therefore, it’s not surprising that he eventually got very good at it, going on to wrestle at Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California many years later. Add the ‘Y’ to the school’s name as it relates to Henderson, however, because he managed to earn medals twice at the California State Wrestling Championships during those teenage years. But that’s hardly where his wrestling career ended.

Actually, Henderson was just getting started.

Next he went on to wrestle for Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State, where he eventually participated in the 1993 NCAA Championships. However, what brings to light the extent of his wrestling prowess may be something else.

Namely, Henderson competed for the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics games in Greco Roman wrestling.

But in and around that time, another sport began to creep into the public consciousness via the UFC. And Henderson was interested.

Dan Henderson and his MMA beginnings

Dan Henderson reportedly began training in MMA in 1997. Further, in an Irish Whip Interview, he indicated the following:

“I started fighting while I was still wrestling. I wrestled for another three years when I started fighting. I was only fighting to get some money to keep wrestling. I had no desires to fight for that long but, once I started fighting full time, I started thinking that I was going to do it for much longer than I had anticipated.”

How about as a career?

Speaking of an MMA career, Henderson’s sure got off to an excellent start. Serving as the co- founder of Team Quest along with Randy Couture and Matt Lindland, Henderson went onto big things. Namely, he was crowned the 1997 Brazil Open Champion in a four man heavyweight tournament on June 15, 1997 after defeating Crezio de Souza and Eric Smith. During his next foray into the MMA game, this time in the UFC, he won another tournament at UFC 17 after downing Allan Goes and Carlos Newton by way of decision. Soon after came another tournament victory, this time in the Rings organization.

In sum, Henderson proved to be a ground and pound nightmare for opponents. Further, he possessed a killer right hand from day one. Thus, an MMA star was born.

Dan Henderson and the PRIDE Fighting Championships

Despite his outstanding start in the UFC many years ago, Henderson is still best known for fighting in the PRIDE organization before its fall. During his time there, Henderson fought mostly in the 205 pound division as PRIDE, at least in the beginning, had no 185 pound class (which seems to be more his actual fighting weight).

Henderson certainly did make some waves initially in the organization in the 205 pound and heavyweight classes, going to war with Wanderlei Silva (hard fought decision loss), Renzo Gracie (KO victory), Akira Shoji (TKO victory), Ricardo Arona (decision loss), Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (submission loss), Shungo Oyama (TKO victory), Murilo Bustamante (KO victory), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (submission loss), Yuki Kondo (decision victory), and Kazuhiro Nakamura (TKO victory). However, in 2005 something special happened in PRIDE for Henderson.

Namely, they formed a 185 pound division.

b>Dan Henderson : The only person to hold two PRIDE championship belts at once

Dan Henderson defeated Ryo Chonan (KO victory), Akihiro Gono (KO victory), and finally Murilo Bustamante once again (decision victory) to take home the PRIDE Welterweight Championship. Then he defeated Kazuo Misaki in defense of it via decision. However, he did lose via decision in the next PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix to Misaki in a rematch.

Since the Grand Prix didn’t count for anything other than the Grand Prix, Henderson didn’t lose his belt.

However, Henderson wasn’t satisfied with the 185 pound championship alone. He wanted another. Thus, after defeating Vitor Belfort via decision he got the rematch he had always dreamed of against Wanderlei Silva in America for the PRIDE Middleweight Championship (205 pounds).

And Henderson delivered with another patented KO to take home victory and a second belt.

Approximately seven months later, Henderson lost on the scorecards to Quinton Jackson in a PRIDE vs. UFC championship bout.

Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship

Dan Henderson is still a ground and pound nightmare due to his outstanding wrestling skills. Further, his powder keg of a right hand is still there. The difference these days is that Henderson can knock you out with both hands. Further, he has a great jaw (has never been knocked out) and is difficult to submit, only falling via submission to the two Nogueira brothers during his illustrious career.

So great takedowns, ground control skills, difficult to knock out, and hard to submit, huh? Sounds like the recipe to defeat Anderson Silva, no?

Well, that’s the question. When these two great fighters get in the UFC Octagon on March 1, 2008 at UFC: Pride of a Champion, expect fireworks.

And on a yearly basis, expect this article to be updated.

Lyoto Machida Biography and Fighting Information

References

Wikipedia

Irish Whip