Who was better, Randy or Dan?

[TheNinja]

Dan and it’s not close to me.

 

[HHJ]

Randy's 5 titles in 2 diff weight classes is super impressive. Not likely to see someone else
manage to be HW champion tree times.

 

[Sweater of AV]

When it's this close you have to start looking at intangibles.

 

[Mike]

I think it's Dan by a considerable margin. Double champ just like Randy, but Dan also has several of the most iconic kos ever, the won over Fedor, the wars with Shogun etc.

 

[HHJ]

I think it's Dan by a considerable margin. Double champ just like Randy, but Dan also has several of the most iconic kos ever, the won over Fedor, the wars with Shogun etc.

His career is much longer. But he really earned a lot of respect in the latter half

 

[markg171]

Randy would sub if decision Dan

 

[cheesus]

Hendo. Pretty similar resumes but Hendo has the better achievements imo. Randy was also gifted a lot of opportunities, Hendo earned all of his aside from maybe the last title shot but he proved at 46 years old he belonged in there with Bisping.

 

[AmericanMMA]

Love both of these guys and appreciate this thread.

Hendo. Champ champ in Pride - at what is the equivalent of MW and LHW today AND KOed the HW GOAT.

He also gets very little credit for being the SF LHW champ. That was legit. Some of his more underrated KOs were in SF.

Randy was dope af too though

 

[Mike]

His career is much longer. But he really earned a lot of respect in the latter half

Yeah that latter part of his career has a lot of big wins still.

 

[Tweak896]

They both are fighters who pulled off extraordinary feats, hard to say who was more impressive. I'm biased and Randy was one of my favorite fighters, he was old, the underdog, used smart gameplans wrestling and cardio to beat guys he had no business fighting. Randy's clinchwork is legendary. Hendo carried power through 3 weight classes and the later part of his career. Both pound for pound guys.

I feel like Hendo's skillset narrowed to just his power, while Randy's expanded as he got older to bjj defense, head movement, etc. It's a really difficult choice because Hendo had some of the better wins later on, but my vote goes to Randy.

 

[cold_spring_harbor]

Too close to call, both are legends

I guess I'll tip the scale towards Randy due to legacy...but its close

 

[ryun253]

I'll take Dan, only because Randys career wasn't as long

 

[orca]

Both legends but my pick is Randi. Hendo was also on the supplements during the latter part of his career which allowed him to get some *wins* he may not have otherwise been able to pull off.

you believe the "natural"
in handy?

 

[pankrat]

Henderson no doubt.

 

[The Don]

First of all, wtf happened to Sherdog's layout and theme? Last time it was this bad was when the switched to a new platform and users had to make their own custom theme to not burn your retinas.

Back to the topic, I'd give the slight edge to Randy. I'm a big fan of both, but I am slightly biased towards Couture.

His first win over Chuck was incredibly impressive. He rocked prime Chuck Liddell on the feet, took him down and finished him. Beat Tito Ortiz by completely dominating him in wrestling, beat Vitor twice, Gonzaga, and I also feel like Jeremy Horn is a notable win for him as well.

 

[CrimsonFan]

The UFC bought PRIDE while Dan was their double champ, but Dan never won the UFC belts. He lost both UFC title unification fights, to Rampage who was the LHW champ and to Anderson who was the MW champ. So no.

He won a ufc mw tournament at ufc 17


As for the topic question, I don't know. Probably Randy. Higher highs.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I feel like if they fought at like 205 or HW Hendo would KO Randy badly

He has the wrestling to get off the fence, and was gifted a “hand of stone” himself

 

[mkt]

They both had rather unique, unconventional careers. It's really hard to compare them.

Yeah, this really comes down to preference/bias and how you compare them

• Randy accomplished a lot more in the UFC as a champ in 2 divisions. Hendo was in 3 UFC title fights, but lost all of them. He wasn't a UFC champ unless we count the one-night tournament he won in 1997
• Hendo did a lot more outside the UFC than Randy as a Pride and Strikeforce champ
• Hendo was on TRT. People suspected an older Randy of being on something, but he never failed a test and never said anything about taking TRT so who knows. Hendo never failed a test either and did TRT when it was legal in the UFC and Strikeforce
• Hendo had more natural gifts--huge KO power in his right hand and a great chin. Randy's chin was pretty decent, too but not legendary like Dan's
• Randy used his wrestling background a lot more successfully than Dan and was a master gameplanner. His "dirty boxing" strategy against Belfort remains one of the best gameplans and executions of it the sport has scene. This is especially true since that was the early NHB era and no one else had done anything like that. Belfort was suppoedly unbeatable at the time
• Hendo outbrawled very tough fighters who were considerably younger than he was (Fedor and Shogun X 2). Again, we're talking great natural gifts vs. gameplanning

So it all depends which of those factors and accomplishments you weigh more heavily. I'm not going to vote for either.

 

[Bullitt68]

He won a ufc mw tournament at ufc 17

I know. I mentioned that myself in my first post in this thread. The specific point was that he was not a concurrent belt-holder in the UFC. He was a tournament champion, but he never actually won a UFC belt, much less two, much less at the same time. That's very incorrect.

 

[kfighter]

Randy is the most overrated fighter. He gets H-bombed to oblivion