Couture vs Henderson

[the ambush]

In totality Hendo had the better career. I would put Hendo in a top 5 ATG before I would put Couture

H2H it would be a pick'em.

 

[cheesus]

Hendo

 

[Mike]

Anyone picking Randy better have some solid stats to back it up. Dan has a WAY, WAY better resume. Like so much better it isn't debatable.

 

[TheNinja]

On the other hand Randy started out in MMA super late at 35 years old, which is amazing in itself with his accomplishments.

This is a toughy

It's nutty.

Everyone knows Jogan saying "once in a lifetime" but an accurate and under utilized quote is when Wand said "I no think we see another of him (Handy) in the lifetime".

Retiring at 47 in the top 10 is insane.

That’s a bit of why I think Randy is overrated. People always say it was great for an old man. But you don’t get extra credit for being old.

what if Randy did it from 25-38? Would he get as much credit ? I don’t think so. He’d be another great fighter.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Couture, He reached UFC Gold in multiple weight classes.

Henderson did in the premier MMA promotion of the time. And won multiple tournaments, the WW GP and Rings tournament should be held on par with winning titles

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Henderson did in the premier MMA promotion of the time. And won multiple tournaments, the WW GP and Rings tournament should be held on par with winning titles

There is still a misunderstanding of the UFC in the 00s. The UFC's 205 and HW divisions were not the premier divisions in the world even if they were the biggest deal in USA (for rather obvious geographical reasons).

Henderson was a champ-champ in the #1 promotion (or at least during the same time Randy was champ in the UFC) and won like 3 or 4 grandprix. Even if we ignore the quality and quantity of their wins which favors Hendo, Hendo has better accolades.

 

[IIIIIIII]

dan henderson easily.

 

[Richard Fannin]

There is still a misunderstanding of the UFC in the 00s. The UFC's 205 and HW divisions were not the premier divisions in the world even if they were the biggest deal in USA (for rather obvious geographical reasons).

Henderson was a champ-champ in the #1 promotion (or at least during the same time Randy was champ in the UFC) and won like 3 or 4 grandprix. Even if we ignore the quality and quantity of their wins which favors Hendo, Hendo has better accolades.

Pretty sure that's what he meant... Hendo had success in PRIDE, which had better fighters than the UFC.

 

[mkt]

This is one of the closest of the better career threads.

Handy won 5 or 6 UFC belts, though he started late but he did retire in the top 10 at like 47 years old.

Hendo found good success at various weight classes, also, while capturing MW and LHW gold.

It's really close, tho I think Dan might get it via SD.

Decision Dan might be back.

Ha, good comment! In an actual MMA fight, though, it would either by Randy by decision via better wrestling or Hendo by H-bomb...and the odds are close to 50/50 IMO. Hendo managed to beat Rich Franklin with LnP wrestling and an SD....but he wouldn't beat Randy at his own game of wrestling or wall-n-stall.

 

[mkt]

Pretty sure that's what he meant... Hendo had success in PRIDE, which had better fighters than the UFC.

But to be fair, Hendo's two Pride wins as a champ were Vitor and Wand. Randy also beat Vitor twice and lost once due to a fluke. And I'd pick Randy to beat Wand just like Tito did....as Randy was a slightly better version of Tito for the most part who could probably keep Wand grounded most of the time.

If Hendo beat guys like Rampage (lost to him later in the UFC), Arona, Shogun, etc. in their Pride glory days and cleaned out that weight class, I'd agree with you, though.

 

[mirko>anyone]

I think Dan Henderson would knock the shit out of him, but Randy has defied my expectations numerous times.

 

[mkt]

Hendo by a pretty wide margin.

Randy had a very good career but it’s mainly defined by Chuck, Tito, Rizzo and Vitor with appearances by Randleman, Smith, Timmeh...which isn’t bad for an old man.

Hendo’s resume is a mile long consisting of many of the greatest fighters ever. He was a UFC and Rings tournament winner, Strikeforce champ, and double champ in the GOAT organization.

Compare their resumes and it’s not much of a debate.

Yeah, I don't know. Timmeh and Gonzaga in their best UFC days is about the same as Fedor on a 2-fight loss. Randy also beat Vitor in the late 90s when most fighters were terrified of him. Prime Rizzo and Smith (right after Smith beat Coleman) were also huge wins at the time--and you have to consider the era of each fight. I'd say the resumes are similar; Hendo just has more fights. Both had great wins but also lost regularly enough to never be considered GOAT level.

 

[the ambush]

Yeah, I don't know. Timmeh and Gonzaga in their best UFC days is about the same as Fedor on a 2-fight loss. Randy also beat Vitor in the late 90s when most fighters were terrified of him. Prime Rizzo and Smith (right after Smith beat Coleman) were also huge wins at the time--and you have to consider the era of each fight. I'd say the resumes are similar; Hendo just has more fights. Both had great wins but also lost regularly enough to never be considered GOAT level.

GOAT Level

Hendo = Yes

Couture = Not quite

 

[SomethingCringetastic]

hendo

 

[Sweater of AV]

Yeah, I don't know. Timmeh and Gonzaga in their best UFC days is about the same as Fedor on a 2-fight loss. Randy also beat Vitor in the late 90s when most fighters were terrified of him. Prime Rizzo and Smith (right after Smith beat Coleman) were also huge wins at the time--and you have to consider the era of each fight. I'd say the resumes are similar; Hendo just has more fights. Both had great wins but also lost regularly enough to never be considered GOAT level.

Disregarding much of that which is nonsense, no it’s not that close.

Fedor, Big Nog, Shogun x2, Wandy, Vitor, Newton, Bisping, Franklin, Busta x2, Misaki, Yvel, Babalu x2, Feijao, Palhares, Ninja, Renzo...

That alone is 19 wins...equaling Randy’s entire career, with a much higher quality.

 

[mahavishnunj]

Equal for me, but Randy had the most successful adult movie career.

 

[Rank Squatter]

Hendo was the First Simultaneous Two Division Champ in the UFC to ever do it

thats gotta count for something

 

[Richard Fannin]

But to be fair, Hendo's two Pride wins as a champ were Vitor and Wand. Randy also beat Vitor twice and lost once due to a fluke. And I'd pick Randy to beat Wand just like Tito did....as Randy was a slightly better version of Tito for the most part who could probably keep Wand grounded most of the time.

If Hendo beat guys like Rampage (lost to him later in the UFC), Arona, Shogun, etc. in their Pride glory days and cleaned out that weight class, I'd agree with you, though.

Hendo also beat Kazuo Misaki while he was the PRIDE WW champ, which was a really good win.

Other than that, I agree that Randy & Hendo's competitions were pretty close.

... even if I would totally give champ Wanderlei Silva the advantage against Couture in PRIDE, had Wand fought him at PRIDE 33 instead of a rematch against Hendo.
Just a bad match-up for the Natural, IMHO

Wanderlei had just proven, in their rematch, that he could deal with Ricardo Arona, who was a better version of Tito in general IMO


(And obviously, Wand had beaten Hendo in their first fight... and Henderson struggled with Yuki Kondo, while Wand blitzd him)

Still, Couture vs Henderson is very difficult to predict...

Hendo had a tendency to either overperform
(KO'd Wand in their rematch, KO'd Fedor despite almost getting KO'd himself, edged Rodrigo Nogueira in their first fight in RINGs, ran through Bustamante in their first fight when Busta was the favorite, TKO'd Shogun in their rematch despite being the underdog, and their first fight ending with Rua on top)
or underperform
(lost the Misaki rematch, lost to WW Jake Shields when he couldn't KO him in the first round, arguably lost to Ninja Rua, almost lost to Yuji Kondo/Rich Franklin/Bustamante in their rematch),

but he still had a "very good fighter" middle ground since he fought so much, so his tournament wins weren't huge upsets either...

Yeah, kind of a weird claim from me, but that's how I saw it


So, could Hendo beat Couture?
Sure, but would he beat Couture most of the times if they fought like, 3 times?
No idea...
That's a tough one.

 

[Trabaho]

Hendo by far

 

[DesiredUserName]

Henderson. Next question.