Was Dan Henderson a draw?

[Tito Tapped]

Late 2000's was peak Middlweight division

 

[GueseGuy]

Are you fucking high right now? Because even if you are, that's no excuse.

I'm going to assume you're young or haven't been around MMA long. Hendo was a goddamn beast and there isn't a guy who fought him that didn't respect his abilities. In his prime, Hendo would have destroyed Rockhold, Weidman, Whitaker, and Jacare. He DID destroy Mousasi(one of my favorites) in about 1 minute.

Your post was really disrespectful of a Hall of Famer. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but damn dude you gotta do your research.

He never destroyed Mousasi

 

[Tnellie30]

Outside of diehards he is a nobody.

You seem to be confusing a legend of the sport with yourself.

 

[tehMoose]

Bisping was a fraud, he was booked against Mousasi for a brief moment and accepted a fight with Anderson instead even tho he was booked already. He knew he has 0 chance of winning against Moose

Hendo got KTFO easily by Moose but beat the shit out of Bisping in the title fight. Hendo dropped him twice and I scored the fight for him lol

 

[reviv4l]

Probably not too much of a draw.
He got a title shot agains Bisping, cause he's got a special place in his heart.
Obligatory:

 

[Franklin U.]

When the MW division was at it's peak with beasts like Rockhold, Weidman, Romero, Mousasi, Whittaker and Jacare in the top 10, Hendo skipped em all and got the titleshot vs Bisping. Was it to get Bisping an "easy" titledefense or was it because Hendo was popular?

Henderson had nothing to do with it and no one can blame him for saying " yes".
Who wouldn't.
Btw, Whitaker wasnt on scene yet but the other monsters and rest of top 10 were.
Bisping declined shots to the top 3 at the time ( fact - yoel, gegard and then Souza.. of course Luke just got ko-ed so he wasnt an option and Chris ( hurt) ended up losing to yoel and Gegard)

Bisping is the origin of the unfortunate arson of a stacked middle division. Bisping lucky he was a draw and convinced Dana to get behind " avenging, perhaps, the most embarrassing ko of all time "
Henderson wasnt ranked and just beat welter Lombard ( and his 4-88 UFC record) and magically got the #15 spot next to his nsme ( which is STILL OBVIOUSLY unacceptable....but I guess not).

If Michael Bisping wasnt popular and a draw , he would've lost title on first defense ...pick your poison or he would have to relinquish title.

It is what it is and " sometimes " unbelievable shit like this happens in the UFC.
Dana had always said ( especially after the the whole ping deal) " listen, I cant make someone fight someone else ".

Unfortunately , we're seeing it with Aljo( yan) and hopefully he does fight yan or the next in line .
Also( and I cant believe I'm saying this cause I've always considered j.jones the closest thing to thee goat we have ) it appears that Jones having plenty of pause in a commitment to the fight that EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE.

Bisping, though, is on a whole different level. This guy basically euthanized one of the greatest divisions of all time ( at the time).This cat didnt want to fight anyone.

Everyone saw why when the 46 year old Henderson put it on him again as Mike barely out pointed him.

* there is not one iota of fighter bashing here ( to all you ping fans).

This is the way it went down and you may not like it but it needs to be embraced and you all will be better mma fans for it.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Are you fucking high right now? Because even if you are, that's no excuse.

I'm going to assume you're young or haven't been around MMA long. Hendo was a goddamn beast and there isn't a guy who fought him that didn't respect his abilities. In his prime, Hendo would have destroyed Rockhold, Weidman, Whitaker, and Jacare. He DID destroy Mousasi(one of my favorites) in about 1 minute.

Your post was really disrespectful of a Hall of Famer. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but damn dude you gotta do your research.

I think you completely misrepresented the OP. Nobody is denying Hendo is a legend and that he was a beast in his prime. The point is he was like 45 and not a top MW when he fought Bisping. Also, Hendo never beat Mousasi wtf was that about?

 

[Pierced7681]

I'll look up the numbers. Makes sense though as he became a free agent at the perfect time. Getting that viral KO on Bisping at a marquee event like UFC 100. Hendo knew his worth after that. Not sure what happened exactly but he left the UFC immediately after UFC 100

Hendo always made Dana pay top dollar for him. He knew his worth and went elsewhere to prove it.

 

[moreorless87]

He was never a big draw but stayed as a consistent kind of mid level draw for a very long time.

 

[Choco]

Bisping was a fraud, he was booked against Mousasi for a brief moment and accepted a fight with Anderson instead even tho he was booked already. He knew he has 0 chance of winning against Moose

Dana had an obssesion to have a British champ since very early on (Even before the Canadian obssesion, I think). First time Zuffa went abroad was to England in UFC38, and, with Canada banned at the time, had set their sights in the UK as fist spot for international expansion.

They try with hypetrain Ian Freeman first, but Andrei killed it. Mark Weir couldn't cut it either. When Murray koed Pelé, they decided to give him a chance, despite Dana's bitterness and weariness after the White China brawl. Dana fell for Lee in Vegas, but Lee just couldn't stay out of trouble. Bisping was a bit of consolation price.

Biping was always a promotion darling due to his passport. They wanted him as a contender but UFC 100 happened. Once he finally got his belt, they won't hessitate in fucking the whole division up. At that point 46 yo, USADA Hendo, was considered a much esaier fight that Romero, Jacaré and co.

 

[Luthien]

Probably not too much of a draw.
He got a title shot agains Bisping, cause he's got a special place in his heart.
Obligatory:

Right if that doesn't get you excited as an MMA fan I don't want to know you

 

[mkt]

There seem to be two questions

1. He wasn't much of a draw in his early years when he played it safer and was known as "Decision Dan." But when he realized the power of his "H" bomb hands, he became more of a brawler. In his SF and younger UFC years, he as quite a draw. His first fight (KO) of Bisping got lots of attention, as did his KOs of Fedor and Shogun.
2. By the time he fought Bisping, Dan was like 47 and off TRT and on a losing streak. He had no business fighting for the title. Like TS said, there were many better contenders who almost certainly would've beaten Bisping, as GSP did in his next fight (coming off a long layoff, too).

 

[mkt]

He was always popular with hardcores but not as much with casuals. Coming off a good run in Pride as double champ, hardcores were psyched to see him in back to back title fights with Rampage and then Anderson. The Rampage fight was competitive and at the time I thought he was the man to dethrone Anderson early in his UFC run. But he was already old AF at that point and made his UFC debut at 37.

His Bisping KO and the two Shogun fights are what casuals may have seen and know him for.

Anderson was just really good. The fact Hendo gave Rampage a great 5-round fight just months earlier...and beat Fedor (much younger than Dan) several years later proves that.

 

[Lawrence]

When the MW division was at it's peak with beasts like Rockhold, Weidman, Romero, Mousasi, Whittaker and Jacare in the top 10, Hendo skipped em all and got the titleshot vs Bisping. Was it to get Bisping an "easy" titledefense or was it because Hendo was popular?

Personally I'm ok with a few weird matchups so long as the actual fight is fun. Bisping v Hendo was a good fight with lots of drama in the cage... So fine by me.

Also,,, even though it was really only a few years ago, fighters back then fought more often and those passed over could bop there way to a title shot without much trouble.

Now that Izzy has been sent back to 185 I think the division will be busy again with lot's of fun fights coming up, weird or justified? I don't care.

 

[G10]

Outside of diehards he is a nobody.

This.

Hendo had just beaten Lombard in highlight reel fashion on the same night Bisping became champ against Rockhold. When you add that to the history between the two fighters and Hendo saying he would retire after one more fight, you get a "perfect storm" situation. Did Hendo merit receiving a title shot over Mousasi, Jacare, and Romero at that time? No! But, given all of those factors, I think most fans were on board with it. I followed the sport very closely at that time, and I don't remember anyone really complaining about it.

 

[xentreos]

Wow this thread makes me feel old.

One search of his record should settle things.

 

[Doug Money]

Are you fucking high right now? Because even if you are, that's no excuse.

I'm going to assume you're young or haven't been around MMA long. Hendo was a goddamn beast and there isn't a guy who fought him that didn't respect his abilities. In his prime, Hendo would have destroyed Rockhold, Weidman, Whitaker, and Jacare. He DID destroy Mousasi(one of my favorites) in about 1 minute.

Your post was really disrespectful of a Hall of Famer. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but damn dude you gotta do your research.

When did he destroy Moose? I remember it the other way around lol

 

[Doug Money]

Henderson got the shot when Ping heard:
"I tell u cum to cuba but u no cum...
U scaaarrrred...u scared of ME...
Hey Dana, gimmie da boy...
FAWK YOU!!"
After that, Bisping shit his pants and wanted no part of Yoel, so he got his "revenge" fight against oldman Hendo which almost ended up biting him on the ass.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Dan > being a draw

 

[pamirec]

Not when he was Decision Dan.