If Dan Henderson worked on his flexibility and agility he'd be a title contender

[TheComebackKid]

I just watched the Fedor/Hendo fight today and I was pretty surprised by how quick and agile he look just a couple of years ago.

 

[JinKazama]

he aint getting any younger,

still one of the all time greats no doubt

 

[markg171]

Shogun wasn't exactly speedy at that stage.

True, but he's looked like a completely different fighter since that fight and the only thing that happened between the Shogun and Machida fight is:

A) A year
B) Knee injury

Against Rashad he looked a lot more nimble than he did versus Machida (still not quite as agile as he was against Shogun though). Now even more time had passed, but no injury, yet he got faster. Therefore we can rule out time and age being the reason behind his slowing down between the Shogun and Machida fights as he got faster with more time in this situation.

So now that we've ruled out time as the factor that's noticeably slowed down Henderson lately, it's therefore not exactly a stretch to assume that it's his injured knee that has held him back as that's the only other difference.

Against Shogun:

Against Machida:

What do we see in these images? Against Machida, after having injured his knee, Henderson wore a knee brace. Against Shogun, prior to his injury, he didn't wear a knee brace. Against Shogun, he was quick. Against Machida, he plodded. It's therefore logical to assume that his knee wasn't 100% or back to what it was prior to the injury as it needed a brace.

Now I've already said earlier that Henderson was faster in the Rashad fight (although not as fast as before) and here is a picture of him from the Rashad fight:

Note the lack of a knee brace. His knee was much better and it showed in his movements. Still not a 100% (maybe won't ever be), but we can't play his slowness on time as he got faster. We can't even say he was faster as a result of his TRT as against Rashad he wasn't on it.

Ergo, I expect to see a much faster Henderson than was displayed against Rashad and Machida as his knee has had more time time to heal. I still expect him to lose though as Belfort's in general way faster than him, but I don't expect it to be because he's plodding around as he was before. I just see Belfort as having too much power and being far too quick with his hands (and kicks now apparently)

 

[Contraction**]

Henderson should just get one top 10 guy - if he gets the finish give him the title shot - he is a much more interesting match up than anyone else currently aside from Glover, Alex and Machida

INb4 Jones destroys Hendersons knees ;[

 

[Mau]

Dude is not 25 anymore. Forget it.

 

[ocfightfan]

Agility and reaction time are two of the first things to go as we age. I'm sure some added flexibility, especially in the hips could help, but I don't see it making him that much more agile.

 

[Philly253]

baaaaaaaaaaaad back

 

[dieknowsore]

aka old man needs more trt?

 

[markg171]

aka old man needs more trt?

He didn't have TRT for his last fight and arguably won

 

[accolyte1022]

He probably needs to stop the squat prematurely unless he wants to scrape the Hendong on the floor. :icon_neut

The floor moves out of the way, it's a respect thing.

 

[LEXTHEANARKIST]

Can you imagine Hendo at a Yoga or Pilates class?? LMAOOOOOO!!!

hahahaha probably looks something similar to Michael from GTA V

 

[The AllKnowing1**]

rofl, great thread

bwahahahahahahah roflocopter

 

[The AllKnowing1**]

hahahaha probably looks something similar to Michael from GTA V

Lmfaooo have my fucking upvote

 

[JosephDredd]

Holy shit, I had no idea. Got to look this up.

 

[JosephDredd]

Oh, shit, I remember that! They never fought, that's when Jones refused to fight a replacement and the card was cancelled and blah blah blah.

 

[ferrisjso]

For someone Hendo's age he's doing quite well. While he's lost his last two they were split decisions to Machida and Rashad two of the greatest LHW's ever . He's now facing Belfort another legend. F

 

[Mike01010101a]

He is too old to bring new skill on table. He knows what he knows.

 

[Priceinator]

I still feel like if he put in the work, he could transition into a more agile fighter.

It wouldn't be easy - he'd have to get an entirely new training regime, some new trainers too.

But it's possible. Anyone can become more agile than 'slow-as-fuck', even Dan.

 

[Mikeyz]

I love the man, but he moves like a mummy. Look no further than his fight with Machida, who ran circles around him. It was almost comical.

I noticed that too. it was really horrible to watch, especially considering that a prime Hendo would have KO'd Machida into the next millenium

 

[Mikeyz]

Holy shit, I had no idea. Got to look this up.

Luckily for Hendo, this fight never materialized