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

[Phrozenspite]

do you mean decision dan where half of his fights shouldn't have been wins?

 

[Loriquero]

Hendo is the USA GOAT, right up there with Bones.

 

[djacobox372]

Hendo is a strange fighter in that he never really had a peak.

When he was young physically he didn't always stay in shape.
When his wrestling was still sharp, he didn't have any confidence in his hands.
Once he improved his standup and conditioning his wrestling got rusty and his body/chin old.

If Hendo had the wrestling, strength and recovery of his younger years mixed with the striking and conditioning of his older years, he may be GOAT at mw and lhw.

 

[Apocalypse604]

a younnger, prime hendo....he would kick ass in ufc currents pool of mws....are you guys kidding me. dude had a solid chin, powerful hands, great wrestling....i cant see him losing to very many at all.

 

[ExitLUPin]

He arguably lost twice to Misaki at his peak, shouldve lost to Murilo the 2nd time, lost to Shields.............

Hed be top 10 but Luke, Weidman, Yoel, Jacare and Vitor right now wreck any version of Hendo. Id say hed be on Kennedys level, worse grappler but better striker/clinch/power. Not a given hed beat Lyoto, Gegard, Whittaker, Brunson etc either.

 

[mbach4307]

Top 5 easy.

Yep, and he would have a chance at the title. Greco-Roman Wrestling, Imo, is the best base to have in mma. Couple that with an iron-chin and one shot ko power in both hands, and he would be a problem for anyone from 185-205

 

[cumafish]

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

then lost to Rampage right after...

 

[Akabignasty]

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

 

[Ez Eric]

Interesting to say the least

The fact that Anderson beat him and carried on his streak, Anderson goes down as the greatest ever. But if Hendo would have won, he would have been the GOAT. That was the super bowl of MW fights. That fight was so big. A dream fight that did come true.

IMO, prime Dan beats prime Spider 5 or 6 times out of 10.

 

[Kelman]

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.

Beats them all except maybe Rockhold.

 

[Taric]

then lost to Rampage right after...

Nothing wrong with losing to a bigger fighter with a similar style.

 

[jtruelove]

Hendo's had such a great career and he faced some of the best fighters ever in the short history of MMA

But he is also a fighter who was never capable of stringing more than 4 consecutive wins in any of the big promotions, UFC, Pride and Strikeforce.
He fought and lost to some of the best, won against some really good fighters, but also lost to some guys who were not all that great.

I understand the huge respect that fans have for him and he deserves it, but he would have a difficult time competing against the best in the middleweight division of today.

Would Hendo from years past be fighting at 185, though? I suppose he would be competing at 205 if he was a few years younger than he is now.

 

[Givvee]

Would be a top guy for sure, top5 easily.

 

[mbach4307]

The fact that Anderson beat him and carried on his streak, Anderson goes down as the greatest ever. But if Hendo would have won, he would have been the GOAT. That was the super bowl of MW fights. That fight was so big. A dream fight that did come true.

IMO, prime Dan beats prime Spider 5 or 6 times out of 10.

I was so fired up for this fight. Then one of my best friends ruined it by rubbing it in that I lost a second bet. I recorded it and was going to watch it d/t working, and my buddy texted me that night that it was the 2nd time I lost a bet on Hendo to him. I bet Hendo in the Rampage fight too. It was only $100 that I lost, but it was the principle.

 

[mbach4307]

The fact that Anderson beat him and carried on his streak, Anderson goes down as the greatest ever. But if Hendo would have won, he would have been the GOAT. That was the super bowl of MW fights. That fight was so big. A dream fight that did come true.

IMO, prime Dan beats prime Spider 5 or 6 times out of 10.

But I think Hendo loses to Spider again. I think Anderson showed he was the better fighter. As soon as he turned it on, Dan had no answer. That 1st round wasgood for Dan, but Silva worked him in the 2nd.

 

[cumafish]

Nothing wrong with losing to a bigger fighter with a similar style.

Rampage is vastly underrated in LHW greats discussions.

 

[Odoylerules4lyf]

I think Dan would do extremely well, probably easily dispatch everybody but the top 5. Even in his prime Hendo had below average takedown defense, I think Weidman and Rockhold would get on top and fuck him up. Jacare can be a little wild with the hands and I think Hendo would probably KO him. Romero I think would take Hendo down but Hendo would probably come back in the later rounds when Romero slows down and get that KO. The rest of the division I think he would beat easily.

 

[BigGing]

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

I see this a lot but it wasn't like he didn't use his wrestling in the first fight.

 

[Coconut Joe]

Prime Hendo is a dangerous matchup for anyone, from MW to HW. Hendo knocked out Fedor, not an easy task.

 

[wellsdj1]

Not sure. I always thought he fought better at lhw than mw