How good was Dan Henderson?

[BoTyson]

TRT Dan was a fucking KO machine animal that was fun to watch, decision Dan was ok and boring as hell, so was USADA Dan.

 

[Smato_rules]

His first fight with wanderlei was so sick. He was really good, and definitely did better at 205 than 185 for some reason.

 

[RustyShacleford]

Spent a long time one of the best, but never was the best, so I think back on him as like a great supporting character in mma.
I guess he did hold two Pride belts when it finished, but he lost both the merger fights in the ufc, which might make him the most responsible man for boning Pride's image after the collapse.

 

[The XL]

Good enough to beat Fedor, but not good enough to beat Anderson Silva

 

[Kowboy Karl]

Belongs On mma Mount Rushmore

 

[faustian]

Good enough to beat Fedor, but not good enough to beat Anderson Silva

Not sure if MMAth is the game you wanna play here

But in case you do, I'll keep Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan over here on standby...

 

[Darbo]

Very good.

Gave us this:

"be vewy vewy quiet... I'm hunting likes".

 

[MoneyMcGrabber]

One of the greats, both in terms of accomplishments and the way he really would fight anyone, anytime, regardless of size and weight.
Courage personified.

 

[MaureenCretis]

Be interesting to see if he was as good without the PEDs.

 

[The XL]

Not sure if MMAth is the game you wanna play here

But in case you do, I'll keep Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan over here on standby...

Doubt UFC Anderson would be getting submitted by mediocre fighters, he had fixed his holes in grappling by then

 

[DaWrassler007]

he was very very good...actually got better with age. Sadly he never seemed to get the hang of combining his great wrestling with his powerful striking. Instead he tended to choose one or the other for fights. he either wrestle humped or did sloppy brawling. If he would have transitioned between these skillsets better he would have been even better.

Lots of what ifs and buts.
Same can be said about JJ and his long reach.
"He would never be that good without his insane reach advantage."
What should JJ do?
Borrow arms from Artem to prove a point?

 

[Typrune Goatley]

Spent a long time one of the best, but never was the best, so I think back on him as like a great supporting character in mma.
I guess he did hold two Pride belts when it finished, but he lost both the merger fights in the ufc, which might make him the most responsible man for boning Pride's image after the collapse.

He actually was the best fighter in the world at 185 pounds from 2003 to 2007. He KO'ed the UFC Middleweight Champ Murilo Bustamante in 2003 and then a few years later became PRIDE champ in 2 weight classes and PRIDE Grand Prix champ. (Champ Champ Champ) He had questionable decisions over Misaki and in the Murilo rematch, but through that time, most rankings had Hendo as the #1 in the world until he lost to Anderson Silva.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

Doubt UFC Anderson would be getting submitted by mediocre fighters, he had fixed his holes in grappling by then

Yep. Anderson really improved his grappling working with the Nog brothers.

Good enough to beat Fedor, but not good enough to beat Anderson Silva

Two different points of their careers. Hendo fought Anderson when Anderson was at his best. He fought Fedor when Fedor was many years past his best.

 

[PlayboyMixx]

Hendo had some controversial decision wins that were pretty unpopular, but with that being said, he's easily an all-time great and one the best to ever compete. Hell, a prime Hendo would still be a force in today.

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

One of my all time favorites, not that this matters.

Dan was somewhat unique in his style. No jab and really didn't utilize wrestling much even though he was excellent at both folk and greco. Superb in scrambles and of course the devastating right hand. Fought top guys from 170 to 205. That alone is nuts. Quit TRT in 2014 and was still knocking dudes dead in his mid forties (who can forget Lombard, jeebus).

However, I'm going to say that no version of Dan, at any time, beats Anderson Silva. Anderson was far too long and far too accurate for Dan. Anderson had an equivalent level of guile and simply wasn't going to fall victim to Dan's games. Anderson wins that match up 9 out of 10 times.

With all that said he was the second best MW during his peak period.

 

[CinemaKingdom]

Be interesting to see if he was as good without the PEDs.

He wasn't. Before PEDs he won boring decisions, many of which he clearly should have lost; and after PEDs he was getting KO'd. The only time he was consistently dangerous was when he was juiced up.

 

[BBMN]

He's a hard one to pin down. He was on TRT which muddies the water, and was pretty simplistic in his approach.

Very good arguments (strength of opponents) can be made for and against (TRT, limited evolution) him being a top fighter in his prime.

 

[faustian]

Doubt UFC Anderson would be getting submitted by mediocre fighters, he had fixed his holes in grappling by then

So for the purposes of MMAth, 28yo Anderson is off limits but we're good with using 35yo Fedor?

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

He wasn't. Before PEDs he won boring decisions, many of which he clearly should have lost; and after PEDs he was getting KO'd. The only time he was consistently dangerous was when he was juiced up.

He's a hard one to pin down. He was on TRT which muddies the water, and was pretty simplistic in his approach.

Very good arguments (strength of opponents) can be made for and against (TRT, limited evolution) him being a top fighter in his prime.

I dislike PEDs and consider using them cheating but I can't hold it against fighters from the early days since it is pretty clear that most (80 to 90% ?) were on some form of PEDs. Anderson, Vitor, Dan, and Wanderlei and almost anyone else who mattered either popped or certainly didn't pass the eye test.

 

[Timmahhhh]

One of the best and was still dangerous right up to the end, very impressive career

Been hearing he wants to come back

Say it aint so. He's an absolute legend but I hope he stays retired.