Hendo At His Peak - How Would He Have Fared With Todays Middleweight Division?

[Gabe]

I've been watching old Pride videos from when Dan Henderson was in his prime and the guy was just beastly. He had so many weapons - powerful hands, good wrestling, good speed, iron chin, and good cardio. How do you think he would have done against today's middleweights? I think the only fighters who I would favor over him are Rockhold, Romero, and maybe Weidman.

 

[chitoortiz]

Top 5 easy.

 

[Ez Eric]

I still think of him as the greatest middleweight ever when he was in his prime.

I still consider him vs Anderson the biggest, greatest, most skilled MW matchup of all time.

He would KO Weidman and Rockhold no problem. They might take him down a few times but at some point he would clip them.

Romero would be tough because he is a better wrestler but he would gas before Hendo and that is when Dan would KO him.

His only weakness was submission defense as seen against the Nogs. I think the only MW's that could sub him would be Jacare and Anderson. Sakuraba definitely had the sub skills but I believe Dan would catch him with a bomb first.

 

[Walker Smith Jr]

Hendo's prime is TRT Hendo. He can be top 10 i think.

Top 3 maybe 5 guys of today beat any version of him.

 

[Blayt7hh]

He beats them all via split decision that he shouldn't have won

 

[FlyingKimurabar]

I could see a prime trt Hendo koing Rockhold. Rockholds a slow starter who gets hit a lot, and doesn't have very good offensive wrestling. I could see hendo pressuring him and landing the h-bomb. If it goes past the first 7 minutes or so Hendos probably finished though.

Weidman would be a sizable favorite to get the takedown and smash/sub.

Jacare would be a favorite to get the takedown and sub.

Romero close to a flip. Romero has great wrestling but he hardly uses it, I could see it being a shoot out where someone gets finished.

Current Vitor its hard to say, we don't know much about him. He looked good vs Weidman till he got crushed, then he beat up Hendos corpse.

Lyoto a slight favorite to decision him I guess?

 

[wartor]

Dominate wrestling, check. Solid chin, check. Power in his punches, check. Hell sounds like Robbie to me. So I think at a weight division down he would still dominate. At Middleweight probably about where Vitor is now.

 

[Davemeddlehed]

Hendo's prime is TRT Hendo. He can be top 10 i think.

Top 3 maybe 5 guys of today beat any version of him.

Personally I think he was at his best between 2005-2007, which only slightly cuts into the time he was on TRT. He was so much more versatile before he got on TRT and became mini Roy Nelson.

 

[mirko>anyone]

I just don't see the evolution of skill as much as other people. Prime Hendo would be about as good as he was 5 -7 years ago. I'm not all that impressed with Romero, Mousasi or Jacare. They are good, but not any better. He'd have some trouble with Weidman and Rockhold.

 

[mmmjojo]

IDK. TRT Hendo was prime Hendo and he stilled got raped. Still waiting on charges.

 

[Loisaida]

Easily top 5. People forget that Hendo actually used to be a really good wrestler because he hasn't done it in like 8 years at this point. He also had a steel chin up until a few years ago. I'd favor him over anyone not named Weidman or Rockhold.

 

[Black Blood]

TRT Hendo was Prime Hendo. Same with Vitor. These older guys, with decades of experience and training, finally got a body that could utilize it.

Anyway, Hendo isn't the best middleweight or light-heavyweight ever, but he is Top 5-10 all time in either division.

 

[The real JG]

Henderson's prime seems to be when he beat Wand and Vitor in consecutive fights.

 

[Philly253]

Decisions decisions....

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Champ

 

[Taric]

He beats them all via split decision that he shouldn't have won

 

[IloveTHIS]

I still think of him as the greatest middleweight ever when he was in his prime.

Interesting to say the least

 

[King.]

hmmm...I wouldn't say he was the best. There was a reason why he was once called "decision dan". However I think he'd do quite well. One achilles heel, besides his sub defense, has always been his defensive wrestling though and tendency to gas in grappling exchanges. See the Jake Shields fight for example. I see Weidman and Rockhold, and possibly Romero, taking him down with relative ease.

 

[TheChance]

I still think of him as the greatest middleweight ever when he was in his prime.

I still consider him vs Anderson the biggest, greatest, most skilled MW matchup of all time.

I wish they would have had a rematch, really want to see what would happen if Dan tried using his wrestling more against Silva.

 

[Siauliai]

2007-2010 hendo i would have a fav of likes rockhold current ufc champ and weidman, damn he is the best ever usa fighter right now... 2 belts in pride fc 1 in strikeforce. give 1 reason to not call him a best fighter in usa today i will buy you a expensive whisky bottle