Dan Henderson: Greatest Moment/Career Appreciation Thread

[Meathead Jock]

But had Dan beat Bisping in his last career fight that definitely would have been #1.

Was thinking the same thing. He was so damn close. Could have vacated the belt after and saved the middleweight division.

 

[Buff]

His rematch with Wanderlei and KO'ing him was his biggest win in my book.

Hendo is a legend for sure

I think for what it meant at the time it's hard to argue... If that Bisping gif wasn't so picture perfect, I'm sure the Wand KO would be remembered that fondly - it's all about the angle.

There's always gonna be the flu argument, and the fact his chin was shot from CroCop, but to go up in weight and fight Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva, and KO him in such savage fashion, take the second Pride belt, and becomes the first major double weight champ ever is the stuff of legend... Dan makes Colin look like a chicken heart.

I still think Rings is the answer... He fought 3 Goliaths with no slingshot and beat them all.

 

[Buff]

A picture of Henderson KO'ing Bisping should replace the stars on the American flag.

 

[quantiqus]

We're talking overall career brilliance... There is a strong argument for Overeem, but he doesn't quite have the same pedigree of achievements outside of the UFC - K1 is awesome, and so are DREAM, Strikeforce, and so on, but what Hendo did in Pride alone easily surpasses what Overeem managed in his whole career.

Demian Maia doesn't really deserve a mention tbh. He's alright and everything, but putting him on the same level as Hendo and Overeem doesn't quite wash.

I agree. Maia fights in UFC for more than a decade (he has only 5-6 fights outside UFC), has a good record, but his best wins are Condit, Sonnen and Matt Brown and that's it. He didn't fought cans, but he doesn't have impressive wins, except Condit.

 

[Vladimir Putin]

Other: first fight with Shogun Rua.

 

[faustian]

Awful "defense" from Wand
Hands down,squared stance.
Like he wanted to get KO'd.

That was Wand's default style which worked for him his entire career till that point (including his 1st Hendo fight)

Problem was Wand had just been brutally KO'd by Mirko in his previous fight, thus marking the end of the invincible brawling Wand

 

[DarkneT]

Fucking BEAST

The manly man meme should be remade with hendos body because he eats that guy for breakfast

 

[Buff]

Fucking BEAST

The manly man meme should be remade with hendos body because he eats that guy for breakfast

This should have been his walkout:

 

[faustian]

Ton of awesome Hendo moments (including vs my 2 alltime favorites Shogun and Fedor) but when you put everything into context at the time I had to go with his Wand win. It was objectively the greatest accomplishment of his career, dethroning the 205 juggernaut that was Wand and becoming the first fighter in any major promotion to secure 2 division straps simultaneously (he was then acknowledged as a multi-belt champ in the UFC after Pride was absorbed). People who weren't watching back then have to understand that Hendo was really an afterthought at 205 (got finished in the 1st round of the 2005 GP, losing record vs Pride's top 205ers) so upsetting Wand the way he did was insane and it really elevated his status in the MMA world moreso than any other win of his career

 

[DarkneT]

Also something that never gets spoken about is how

He gets in there with a 230 lb Cormier on short notice because he's the only person mad enough to do it
Took his beating like a man and had to be put unconscious to stop it..

Who the fuck weighs in in jeans

 

[RaskeDanzig]

It'll always be knocking out Wanderlei for me, but Fedor and Bisping are acceptable answers.

 

[faustian]

naah Overeem did more in his career when you count K1. Hendo always lost to the elite class of guys.

stipe nearly was finished like 2x against overeem. Ngannou will sleep Stipe

Hendo has better HW wins than Reem lol

 

[faustian]

Great thread btw

 

[Buff]

Great thread btw

<{monica}>

 

[Buff]

Also something that never gets spoken about is how

He gets in there with a 230 lb Cormier on short notice because he's the only person mad enough to do it
Took his beating like a man and had to be put unconscious to stop it..

Who the fuck weighs in in jeans

I have a feeling that the reason he wore jeans was to soak them a little befire walking out so that he appeared even heavier than he was.

What did he make for the fight? 500k?

Worth every penny.

 

[faustian]

I actually think Hendo should've fought more at HW, especially TRT Hendo. He has the frame of a MW but he always had the punching power and chin of the biggest HWs needed to survive there, so when you throw in the substantial speed advantage he'd have I think he would've really been a uniquely difficult opponent for most HWs. To a lesser degree this is why he seemed to perform better at LHW than MW across his career

 

[DarkneT]

I have a feeling that the reason he wore jeans was to soak them a little befire walking out so that he appeared even heavier than he was.

What did he make for the fight? 500k?

Worth every penny.

Utterly fearless

Would marry him
Given the chance

 

[MMACroatia]

That was Wand's default style which worked for him his entire career till that point (including his 1st Hendo fight)

Problem was Wand had just been brutally KO'd by Mirko in his previous fight, thus marking the end of the invincible brawling Wand

Cro Cop ruined him,he was never the same after.Hendo made a big contribution to that as well right away.

 

[Buff]

I actually think Hendo should've fought more at HW, especially TRT Hendo. He has the frame of a MW but he always had the punching power and chin of the biggest HWs needed to survive there, so when you throw in the substantial speed advantage he'd have I think he would've really been a uniquely difficult opponent for most HWs. To a lesser degree this is why he seemed to perform better at LHW than MW across his career

You're probably right... But he was after winning as much gold as possible - he almost won it all too, he was one fight away from being the only person you win a Pride, UFC, Rings, and Strikeforce belt.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if certain circumstances were different - having said that, he did achieve an awful lot at HW, but in Pride Nogueira had his number, then they both moved to the UFC at the same time.

Good fun to think about it all though. Such a unique fighter.

 

[Danespina]

Putting a definite end to the Hendo/Shogun war was one of my favorites.