Dan Henderson: Greatest Moment/Career Appreciation Thread

[Buff]

Dan Henderson arguably might have the most illustrious career in MMA history... Pick your favourite.

BRAZIL OPEN TOURNAMENT '97 CHAMPION (1997)



Wins 2 fights in one night on his debut, and wins the Lightweight tournament.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

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 1 night tournament, featuring 4 competitors. Also competing in the tournament was Brazilian Vale Tudo legend, Jose Landi-Jons. After two relatively quick finishes, Henderson earned himself the tournament championship.

UFC 17 MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION (1998)

Defeats Allan Goes and Carlos Newton to win the Middleweight Tournament. Has jaw broken vs Newton but fights on to win.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

A little less than one year later, Henderson entered his 2nd MMA tournament, also a 4-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 2 decades. He defeated Allan Goes and Carlos Newton in closely contested contests to earn his 2nd 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 1999 OPEN WEIGHT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION (1999)

Defeats 2 guys in one night (Bakouri Gogitidze, Hiromito Kanehara), followed by 3 guys in one night; Lil Nog, Gilbert Yvel, and Babalu - all of whom had a big size advantage. Is crowned Open Weight Champion.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

About 1.5 years later, Henderson entered his 3rd MMA tournament. This time the number of competitors in the tournament was 32, and there was no weight limit for any of the fighters. The tournament would be held over the course of 2 nights. The first two rounds would be held late 1999, while the final 3 would be in early 2000. The tournament was full of many notable competitors, and Henderson faced Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Renato Sobral. Despite only weighing in at 199 pounds, and routinely being outweighed by more than 30 pounds, Henderson won all 5 of his fights, and became the Rings: King of Kings Tournament 1999 champion.

WINS PRIDE WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT AND CHAMPIONSHIP (2005)

(couldn't find a decent pic or gif, so you'll have to settle for that - it's not from the tourny).

KO's Ryo Chonan, and Akihiro Gino on the same night, then beats Murilo Bustamante in the final to win the Tournament, and is Crowned PRIDE FC Welterweight Champion

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

He entered in 3 tournaments for the organization, winning the Welterweight (183 pounds) tournament at Pride Shockwave 2005 by defeating Murilo Bustamante by split decision. The opening two rounds of the 8 man tournament were fought at Pride Bushido 9, where Henderson knocked out both Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono. Along with this tournament victory, he was also awarded the Pride Welterweight Championship.

WINS PRIDE MIDDLEWEIGHT (205LBS) CHAMPIONSHIP (2007)

Without giving up his 185 WW strap, Hendo moves up to 205 and brutally KOs Prime Wanderlei, and becomes the first person to simultaneously hold 2 belts at the same time in a major organisation.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

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 knockout victory to become Middleweight Champion (205 pounds), 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

UFC 100 - CREATES GIF OF THE CENTURY (2009)

After enduring months of trash talk from outspoken heel-allstar Michael Bisping on The Ultimate Fighter, Hendo delivered a KO that will live through the ages. It was amazing.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

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 settled their differences with their fists, culminating with 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 also 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 prone Bisping's head shortly before referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight at 3:20.[11]

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.

WINS STRIKEFORCE LHW CHAMPIONSHIP (2011)

KOs Babalu in a title eliminator, then defendinf champ Feijao to win the 205 Strikeforce title - at the time Feijao was thought to be one of the better LHW in the world.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

Henderson faced Renato Sobral on December 4, 2010 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu.[16] 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.

KNOCKS OUT FEDOR EMILIANENKO (2011)

Fighting at Heavyweight, Hendo moves up to face the apparent GOAT, Fedor Emilianenko - he was undersized, and coming in as a massive underdog - Hendo knocked him out for the first time in his career. Sherdog melted down.

Spoiler: Wiki Entry On This

Henderson fought Fedor Emelianenko on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson.[17][18] 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."[19] 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.[20] Henderson defeated Emelianenko via KO[21][22][23] 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.

Hendo Bless.

Honorable mentions go to beating Lombard aged 46, and having one of the fights of the last 10 years against Shogun aged 45 and getting the finish, knocking out Renzo Gracie, beating Ninja in Pride, His epic fight with Lil Nog, and hanging them up after a titleshot.

 

[BETtrman]

Only one of those things is Dan's logo...

 

[jojoRed]

 

[BjPenn2017]

I voted other because of his first fight with Shogun. Dan has had alot of great moments throughout his career, but to me personally that fight was the best I ever saw so that moment gets my vote.

This was a very tough pick too considering he KO'd Fedor and his Michael Bisping KO may be the most vicious KO in MMA history. Not to mention knocking out Wanderlei and everything in between.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

KOing Fedor and the H-Bomb ruining Bisping.

 

[Cro Cop Is Back]

 

[beephin]

We all know the answer to this.





But had Dan beat Bisping in his last career fight that definitely would have been #1. Best to never wear UFC gold.

 

[ryanrandy]

I voted for the Bisping KO because that's probably the best KO in history but my heart says going up in weight to KO Wand

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

BISPING..... He did finish Silva and Fedor. But almost killing The Count will live in the history books of the UFC forever.

 

[firstroundpick]

hendos best moment was when he held both pride titles.. the fedor ko was a close second and his 2 fights with shogun were amazing

 

[weed]

 

[SVG]

Thing is it was one of the most brutal UFC KO's ever, it was Michael Bisping on top of that and he follow up slugged him just for good measure. Hard to beat that one.

 

[knock_you_out]

Woohoo!!!

 

[Huligani]

Definitely winning the Pride Middleweight strap. It was monumental for the reasons you described.

 

[turbotime]

Hendo Bless.

I have to go with the Fedor KO. I put a lot of stock into underdog wins. Shame he couldn't beat Rampage for the UFC gold.

 

[TIMELESS TRUTH]

I voted Pride middleweight champ, but UFC 17 and obviously Fedor were huge.

 

[firstroundpick]

imo hendo got the w against bisping in their second fight.. that would have been the ultimate ending to his career

 

[Buff]

I went with Rings.

He fought:

On the same night and beat them all... Most people wouldn't sit on a bus next to any of those guys.

Dan looked like this back then:

Badass.

Babalu ffs... Dude was 12-0.

That's Brad Kohler getting ended...

 

[Mortigan]

I picked one, but also know that any achievement I pick is arguably wrong, and ONE of the other options just has to top it.

People can bitch and moan about the "undeserved title shot". Hendo deserves anything a fight organization gives him.

 

[Cowboy Cerroliveira]

Hendo at lightweight...