2011 has been quite an eventful year for MMA. It opened with a Fight of the Year candidate in January between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and ended on December 30th with the highly anticipated Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem clash of the heavyweight titans. Generally speaking, the year saw some incredible performances and there were a bevy of fighters that had banner years. The men who made this list of fighters of the year have all fought at least twice and went undefeated for the year against some solid competition. Without further ado, here is the list counting down from five to one.
5.) Nick Diaz: Nick Diaz had a whirlwind of a 2011. He defended the Strikeforce Welterweight Title twice this year, dominating Evangelista Santos en route to a submission win and knocking out Paul Daley in one of the wildest one round slugfests in ages. To top it all off he ripped into the UFC like a tornado, gaining then losing then regaining a shot at UFC gold. His spectacular boxing display against BJ Penn and post-fight tirade put him back in the main event. All three of Diaz’ fights this year were memorable and he set himself up for the next year or two as a major name in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
4.) Benson Henderson: Bendo went from losing the WEC Lightweight Title last December to main eventing UFC 144 in Japan against Frankie Edgar this February. Quite a turnaround, especially considering all the doubt cast towards the championship aspirations of the WEC lightweights. Bendo went 3-0 this year against tough competition. He beat the solid Mark Bocek in April,and followed it up by dominating the top contender Jim Miller during the summer. It was Miller’s first loss since March 2009. For an encore, he had a fight of the year candidate against Clay Guida on the UFC on Fox prelims. This fight showed off his diverse set of skills and relentless tenacity. Between his insane cardio, granite chin, and all-around skills, he poses a serious threat to Edgar when they face off.
3.) Anderson Silva: Another year passes for the Spider without a defeat, going 2-0 this year. While the win total isn’t jaw dropping, the fashion in which he won certainly is. At UFC 126, he had the knockout of the year with his front kick to the jaw of Vitor Belfort. It was possibly the only strike Silva even threw in the three minutes of the fight and it came out of nowhere to devastating effect. His second fight was at UFC Rio, where he utterly humiliated the longtime middleweight contender Yushin Okami in about a round and a half. Okami started the fight by getting Silva in the clinch, where Anderson nullified any Okami advantage. The second round saw Silva absolutely abuse Okami, dropping him twice with jabs while keeping his hands at his side. Never before had Okami been dominated like that, but it was par for the course for Silva. To boot, Silva’s wins over fellow Brazilian (and noted celeb) Belfort and Okami turned him into a megastar in his homeland. It’s now been nearly six years since Silva has lost (via illegal kick) and seven since his last real defeat to Ryo Chonan’s flying heel hook. Not too shabby.
2.) Dan Henderson: Any other year, and Hendo is likely the year’s top fighter. He started it off by winning the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title just months shy of his 41st birthday, knocking out Rafael Calcavante. He followed this up by fighting the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, giving up nearly 30 pounds in the process. The result was a first round knockout, the first such loss in the Russian’s mythical career. He capped off 2011 by returning to the UFC and cementing himself as a top contender for the 205 lb. title with a decision win over Shogun Rua in one of the greatest fights of all time. It was certainly one of the top two or three fights I’ve had the privilege of seeing. With the type of year Hendo had, he certainly eradicated all the doubts about him after his loss to Jake Shields last year in his Strikeforce debut. While I and most people don’t expect him to win against the man who is ranked number 1 in this list, if there’s one thing that Hendo has shown it’s that you can’t count out his heart and that nuclear missile of a right hand.
1.) Jon Jones: I’m not a fan of Jones due to his personality and some questionable tactics during fights, but there is no denying he had the best year of any fighter in MMA in 2011. In fact, it ranks as possibly the best year in MMA history. Off the top of my head, Shogun Rua’s 2005 run is the only major competitor for best year ever. Regardless, Jones went 4-0 this year and won each fight by finish. In February he beat (at the time) fellow prospect Ryan Bader by submission, just absolutely dominating him. Six weeks later he got a title shot against Shogun Rua. While part of Rua’s poor performance was due to his rehab from knee surgery, it’s not an excuse and Jones utterly abused him into a fourth round TKO. In September, he fought Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and picked him apart from range until submitting him in the fourth round. Last week, at UFC 140 he recovered from a first round that saw him get outstruck significantly by Lyoto Machida and turned in a sick standing guillotine in the second round to win. Of all his performances, this was the most impressive due to the composure he showed after getting blasted for the first time in his young career. He became the first fighter to beat three former champions and the fact he finished all of them is even more impressive. Now, he is two to four opponents away from clearing out the entire division. Talk about bringing stability to your weight class.
2011 saw a lot of great performances in MMA. I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings. In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts here or on facebook.
Showing posts with label henderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label henderson. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Monday, November 21, 2011
UFC 139 Thoughts Part 1: A Legendary Fight
I wonder if Dana White regrets not promoting UFC 139 harder during the UFC on Fox. In the chaos around the network debut and Brock Lesnar’s return next month, this show seemed to get lost in the shuffle. It’s a shame really, as it was one of the best cards in terms of action in quite some time and it provided one of the greatest and most brutal fights of all-time in its main event.
Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua waged an absolute war against each other. It was the type of fight that has to rank highly in the pantheon of great fights in the sport’s history; the heart, damage taken, and brutality unleashed by each man would have been enough to stop another fighter in their tracks. Instead, this went a full twenty-five minutes and set the bar for five round non-title main events impossibly high for any others to follow.
The fact that Henderson won a unanimous decision or that I and many others scored it a draw is immaterial. When two fighters put on the type of performance displayed in their bout, no one really loses. Both men really gain in the eyes of the fans. They each took the best of what the other had to offer and were still standing at the end, albeit with the help of their respective cornermen.
My fiancee’s brother often watches the fights with us and while he doesn’t seem to mind them, this had to be the first fight that I ever heard him openly state he enjoyed. If I recall correctly, he said it was the best he had seen and it seemed to make him a fan of both men. That is the essence of a great fight. For me, I’ve watched hundreds of fights over the years and I would be hard pressed to name more than a few fights that are in the same class as this one. There are fights with big knockouts, submissions, or comebacks, but in terms of fights that go the distance or close to it, you can’t do much better than this one.
In the first round, Shogun looked like he was dead meat after reeling from one of Hendo’s massive right hands. Somehow he responded by dropping Henderson. In the second round, Shogun looked to be on weary legs as he fought his way through more of Hendo’s massive bombs. By the halfway point of the fight, Shogun was on the ground in the turtle position in an attempt to avoid having his skull plastered to the mat from Hendo’s hammerfists. It was at this moment I thought the fight was going to be stopped, but somehow Rua responded with a heel hook that nearly caught Hendo. In the fourth round Shogun caught Henderson with a right that put him on spaghetti legs, but somehow he couldn’t get the finish. In the fifth, it was a stunning display of dominance as Shogun had Henderson mounted and rained down blows for the entirety of the round. It was a tremendous display of strength by the obviously gassed Henderson to avoid a TKO or submission loss in the last two rounds after spending so much energy and power pounding on Shogun through the first three. For Shogun the fact he made it to the end, much less finished strongly after taking an absolute beating in the beginning of the fight was just unbelievable. I said it already, but the onslaught both men dished out would have finished any other fighter. This isn’t an exaggeration either. I don’t care if you’re Jon Jones or Anderson Silva. No human being could endure the punishment they went through. If you haven’t seen this fight you need to do so immediately.
I wrote last week that I was looking forward to this fight and expected it to be great. I certainly didn’t expect to witness the best fight I’ve ever seen live. It was reminiscent of the wars both men were capable of in PRIDE, the only difference being that PRIDE ended five years ago and Henderson is now 41, while Shogun has been fighting on bad knees for years. I didn’t think that Shogun was capable of having a fight on par with the one he had against Little Nogueira in 2005 and I didn’t think any human being could survive the barrage Rua lets fly when he goes for the kill like Hendo did.
People calling for an immediate rematch between the two are crazy. After this fight, they shouldn’t face off again unless it is for a title. Besides, there is no way that a second fight can possibly top this one. Fans should just appreciate this fight and what they went through rather than expect more. Of course, it appears that even Shogun wants to do it again, so shows what I know. With that being said, what should come next for Hendo and Rua?
Dan Henderson: Has Hendo’s value ever been higher? And has he ever enjoyed a better twelve month span in his career? He’s gone from being considered done as an elite fighter after losing to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut to having a legitimate claim as the number two light heavyweight in the world. It is clear that 205 lbs. is where Hendo should be. I’ve heard some people calling for him to take on Rashad Evans in a title eliminator, but I think that Henderson’s next fight should be for the title. Evans was unable to compete at UFC 140 due to an injury, but wants to fight again rather than wait for the title shot. He’ll be ready in the next few months to fight, but Hendo certainly won’t. No one knows what is going to happen with Jones/Machida either, so pitting Henderson and Evans against each other could create a situation where there are not enough viable contenders for a large portion of the year. Besides, Dan is getting to the age where he won’t have very many runs at the title left in him. A fight between the crafty veteran with the nuclear right hand coming off a legendary fight and either the dominant young champ or the enigmatic karate master seems like it would be an easy fight to sell people on. While he would have to be considered an underdog against both men, after the year he’s had I wouldn’t count him out against any opponent.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: I think that Shogun proved a lot in this fight, mainly that he was clearly nowhere near physically ready for the Jon Jones fight this past March. In that fight, his body betrayed his heart and he could barely move. In the Henderson fight, he kept coming forward and fighting. He even showed some of the grappling that I discussed before the Jones fight, utilizing great trip takedowns and working for a rear naked choke and nearly ending the fight with a heel hook. Rampage Jackson originally wanted to fight Rua at UFC 144 in Japan this February, but Shogun looks like he is going to be too busted up to fight that soon. It’s a shame, as I would really like to see that fight. The fight I would go with is against the winner of Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. I originally thought that the winner of that fight should go against Stephan Bonnar, but it appears there is another fight in the works for “The American Psycho.” Putting Shogun against Nogueira or Ortiz provides him a resilient name opponent that he should be able to defeat while the rest of the top level fighters in the division sort themselves out. Other than that, there aren’t really any other interesting fights available to him. It seems like everyone else around him in the rankings has an upcoming fight.
That’s it for Part 1 of the UFC 139 recap. I’ll discuss the rest of the card and its winners tomorrow.
Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua waged an absolute war against each other. It was the type of fight that has to rank highly in the pantheon of great fights in the sport’s history; the heart, damage taken, and brutality unleashed by each man would have been enough to stop another fighter in their tracks. Instead, this went a full twenty-five minutes and set the bar for five round non-title main events impossibly high for any others to follow.
The fact that Henderson won a unanimous decision or that I and many others scored it a draw is immaterial. When two fighters put on the type of performance displayed in their bout, no one really loses. Both men really gain in the eyes of the fans. They each took the best of what the other had to offer and were still standing at the end, albeit with the help of their respective cornermen.
My fiancee’s brother often watches the fights with us and while he doesn’t seem to mind them, this had to be the first fight that I ever heard him openly state he enjoyed. If I recall correctly, he said it was the best he had seen and it seemed to make him a fan of both men. That is the essence of a great fight. For me, I’ve watched hundreds of fights over the years and I would be hard pressed to name more than a few fights that are in the same class as this one. There are fights with big knockouts, submissions, or comebacks, but in terms of fights that go the distance or close to it, you can’t do much better than this one.
In the first round, Shogun looked like he was dead meat after reeling from one of Hendo’s massive right hands. Somehow he responded by dropping Henderson. In the second round, Shogun looked to be on weary legs as he fought his way through more of Hendo’s massive bombs. By the halfway point of the fight, Shogun was on the ground in the turtle position in an attempt to avoid having his skull plastered to the mat from Hendo’s hammerfists. It was at this moment I thought the fight was going to be stopped, but somehow Rua responded with a heel hook that nearly caught Hendo. In the fourth round Shogun caught Henderson with a right that put him on spaghetti legs, but somehow he couldn’t get the finish. In the fifth, it was a stunning display of dominance as Shogun had Henderson mounted and rained down blows for the entirety of the round. It was a tremendous display of strength by the obviously gassed Henderson to avoid a TKO or submission loss in the last two rounds after spending so much energy and power pounding on Shogun through the first three. For Shogun the fact he made it to the end, much less finished strongly after taking an absolute beating in the beginning of the fight was just unbelievable. I said it already, but the onslaught both men dished out would have finished any other fighter. This isn’t an exaggeration either. I don’t care if you’re Jon Jones or Anderson Silva. No human being could endure the punishment they went through. If you haven’t seen this fight you need to do so immediately.
I wrote last week that I was looking forward to this fight and expected it to be great. I certainly didn’t expect to witness the best fight I’ve ever seen live. It was reminiscent of the wars both men were capable of in PRIDE, the only difference being that PRIDE ended five years ago and Henderson is now 41, while Shogun has been fighting on bad knees for years. I didn’t think that Shogun was capable of having a fight on par with the one he had against Little Nogueira in 2005 and I didn’t think any human being could survive the barrage Rua lets fly when he goes for the kill like Hendo did.
People calling for an immediate rematch between the two are crazy. After this fight, they shouldn’t face off again unless it is for a title. Besides, there is no way that a second fight can possibly top this one. Fans should just appreciate this fight and what they went through rather than expect more. Of course, it appears that even Shogun wants to do it again, so shows what I know. With that being said, what should come next for Hendo and Rua?
Dan Henderson: Has Hendo’s value ever been higher? And has he ever enjoyed a better twelve month span in his career? He’s gone from being considered done as an elite fighter after losing to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut to having a legitimate claim as the number two light heavyweight in the world. It is clear that 205 lbs. is where Hendo should be. I’ve heard some people calling for him to take on Rashad Evans in a title eliminator, but I think that Henderson’s next fight should be for the title. Evans was unable to compete at UFC 140 due to an injury, but wants to fight again rather than wait for the title shot. He’ll be ready in the next few months to fight, but Hendo certainly won’t. No one knows what is going to happen with Jones/Machida either, so pitting Henderson and Evans against each other could create a situation where there are not enough viable contenders for a large portion of the year. Besides, Dan is getting to the age where he won’t have very many runs at the title left in him. A fight between the crafty veteran with the nuclear right hand coming off a legendary fight and either the dominant young champ or the enigmatic karate master seems like it would be an easy fight to sell people on. While he would have to be considered an underdog against both men, after the year he’s had I wouldn’t count him out against any opponent.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: I think that Shogun proved a lot in this fight, mainly that he was clearly nowhere near physically ready for the Jon Jones fight this past March. In that fight, his body betrayed his heart and he could barely move. In the Henderson fight, he kept coming forward and fighting. He even showed some of the grappling that I discussed before the Jones fight, utilizing great trip takedowns and working for a rear naked choke and nearly ending the fight with a heel hook. Rampage Jackson originally wanted to fight Rua at UFC 144 in Japan this February, but Shogun looks like he is going to be too busted up to fight that soon. It’s a shame, as I would really like to see that fight. The fight I would go with is against the winner of Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. I originally thought that the winner of that fight should go against Stephan Bonnar, but it appears there is another fight in the works for “The American Psycho.” Putting Shogun against Nogueira or Ortiz provides him a resilient name opponent that he should be able to defeat while the rest of the top level fighters in the division sort themselves out. Other than that, there aren’t really any other interesting fights available to him. It seems like everyone else around him in the rankings has an upcoming fight.
That’s it for Part 1 of the UFC 139 recap. I’ll discuss the rest of the card and its winners tomorrow.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
UFC 139 Predictions
This Saturday ends another autumn streak of UFC shows with UFC 139, the fourth weekend in a row of fights. Late September/early October had a similar run and it is alternately awesome and tiring (and expensive). I said this about UFC 137 and it turned out to be incorrect, but this should be an exciting night of fights. It’s headlined by a battle between top 5 light heavyweights and PRIDE veterans Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson in what could establish the next number one contender for the title. The co-main event is an interesting fight between fading star Wanderlei Silva and karate expert Cung Le. The other fights on the main card all look to have the potential to be entertaining as well. Let’s delve into them.
Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury: Bonnar is a journeyman fighter still hanging around due to his performance in the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. Kingsbury is a younger guy that lost in like the eighth season of that show. This fight doesn’t really have much relevance, but I assume the goal is to get Kingsbury a win over a ‘name’ opponent to establish him at light heavyweight or get Bonnar into a fight after nearly a year off. Kingsbury’s resume doesn’t seem too impressive and Bonnar is usually a pretty tough out who is usually in fairly entertaining scraps. I’m going to say that Bonnar wins by decision.
Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story: This welterweight bout features two fighter who could conceivably be two to three fights away from title contention. Kampmann is coming off two consecutive controversial decision losses while Story is coming off a loss to Charlie Brenneman that ended a six fight winning streak. This is very much a “striker vs. grappler” match, with Kampmann being the kickboxer and Story being the wrestler. I like Kampmann, but I don’t recall him having particularly strong takedown defense and Story was able to take down Thiago Alves fairly easily. This one could be dull if it is just takedown, takedown, takedown. Story by decision.
Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles: This is likely a title eliminator, with the winner getting another shot at Dominick Cruz’s Bantamweight Title at some point next year. A Faber win would be better for business, but I don’t know that either man can beat Cruz. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bowles fight but I do know his only loss is to Cruz. I didn’t think Faber looked particularly impressive in his fight against Eddie Wineland and was too tentative against Cruz. I will probably cheer for Faber since he’s pretty likeable, but I think it is going to be Bowles by decision.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le: This fight was originally supposed to be Vitor Belfort taking on Cung Le, but he withdrew due to injury. The UFC fans buying the show may not be familiar with the 39 year old Le, but the live audience in San Jose will love him because of his affiliation with Strikeforce since its days as a regional promotion in the area. Le only has 9 (8-1 record) fights to his record and each one of them has ended by a knockout. This one should be no different. Popular opinion seems to be that Wand’s aggression will be too much for Le, who needs to set up and establish range and distance in order to employ his style of Shan Shou karate. I love Wanderlei and his willingness to throw down, but he doesn’t have a chin against guys with knockout abilities. While seeing Wanderlei revert to his PRIDE days and beast on someone would be incredible and he deserves an exciting win in what has been a poor showing for him in his UFC career, I don’t think it happens. I think Le stays away from Wand’s wild flurries throughout the first and settles in in the second. At that time, it will be Cung Le by 2nd Round KO.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson: I am ridiculously excited for this fight. Hendo always seems to bring it when he fights at light heavyweight (much more so than at middleweight) and Shogun never phones it in. This one is going to come down to whether or not Shogun can get him early and if his knees are repaired enough for him to potentially make it through a war of attrition. We know Henderson can go five rounds; Rua’s endurance is questionable due to the poor condition of his knees. If he is limping or dragging his legs, Hendo will just wear him down and win a decision. If he can strike early and pounce, it could be Shogun’s night. I don’t think Rua can win a decision unless he is lights out in the first three rounds. His cardio isn’t as solid as Hendo’s. I tend to think that Rua will put on a gutsy performance and have some moments early on, but Henderson will weather the storm like he does (he is damn nigh impossible to finish) and will use some of his clinch work and wrestling to wear down Rua and either win a decision or finish late. Either way, I expect it to be a pretty good fight. Henderson by 4th round TKO.
There you have it. Feel free to leave your picks here or on facebook.
Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury: Bonnar is a journeyman fighter still hanging around due to his performance in the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. Kingsbury is a younger guy that lost in like the eighth season of that show. This fight doesn’t really have much relevance, but I assume the goal is to get Kingsbury a win over a ‘name’ opponent to establish him at light heavyweight or get Bonnar into a fight after nearly a year off. Kingsbury’s resume doesn’t seem too impressive and Bonnar is usually a pretty tough out who is usually in fairly entertaining scraps. I’m going to say that Bonnar wins by decision.
Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story: This welterweight bout features two fighter who could conceivably be two to three fights away from title contention. Kampmann is coming off two consecutive controversial decision losses while Story is coming off a loss to Charlie Brenneman that ended a six fight winning streak. This is very much a “striker vs. grappler” match, with Kampmann being the kickboxer and Story being the wrestler. I like Kampmann, but I don’t recall him having particularly strong takedown defense and Story was able to take down Thiago Alves fairly easily. This one could be dull if it is just takedown, takedown, takedown. Story by decision.
Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles: This is likely a title eliminator, with the winner getting another shot at Dominick Cruz’s Bantamweight Title at some point next year. A Faber win would be better for business, but I don’t know that either man can beat Cruz. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bowles fight but I do know his only loss is to Cruz. I didn’t think Faber looked particularly impressive in his fight against Eddie Wineland and was too tentative against Cruz. I will probably cheer for Faber since he’s pretty likeable, but I think it is going to be Bowles by decision.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le: This fight was originally supposed to be Vitor Belfort taking on Cung Le, but he withdrew due to injury. The UFC fans buying the show may not be familiar with the 39 year old Le, but the live audience in San Jose will love him because of his affiliation with Strikeforce since its days as a regional promotion in the area. Le only has 9 (8-1 record) fights to his record and each one of them has ended by a knockout. This one should be no different. Popular opinion seems to be that Wand’s aggression will be too much for Le, who needs to set up and establish range and distance in order to employ his style of Shan Shou karate. I love Wanderlei and his willingness to throw down, but he doesn’t have a chin against guys with knockout abilities. While seeing Wanderlei revert to his PRIDE days and beast on someone would be incredible and he deserves an exciting win in what has been a poor showing for him in his UFC career, I don’t think it happens. I think Le stays away from Wand’s wild flurries throughout the first and settles in in the second. At that time, it will be Cung Le by 2nd Round KO.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson: I am ridiculously excited for this fight. Hendo always seems to bring it when he fights at light heavyweight (much more so than at middleweight) and Shogun never phones it in. This one is going to come down to whether or not Shogun can get him early and if his knees are repaired enough for him to potentially make it through a war of attrition. We know Henderson can go five rounds; Rua’s endurance is questionable due to the poor condition of his knees. If he is limping or dragging his legs, Hendo will just wear him down and win a decision. If he can strike early and pounce, it could be Shogun’s night. I don’t think Rua can win a decision unless he is lights out in the first three rounds. His cardio isn’t as solid as Hendo’s. I tend to think that Rua will put on a gutsy performance and have some moments early on, but Henderson will weather the storm like he does (he is damn nigh impossible to finish) and will use some of his clinch work and wrestling to wear down Rua and either win a decision or finish late. Either way, I expect it to be a pretty good fight. Henderson by 4th round TKO.
There you have it. Feel free to leave your picks here or on facebook.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Victory in Defeat and Victory in Victory: Two Nights in the Career of Dan Henderson
Dan Henderson is a legend in the sport of MMA. He’s faced off against nearly every legendary name that has mattered in the past decade, with the exception of his close friend and former trainer Randy Couture and his upcoming UFC 139 opponent Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. His most noteworthy accomplishment is being the only man to hold two titles in different weight classes concurrently, when he held both the PRIDE 185 lbs. and 205 lbs. titles. As great as that run was, which was highlighted by Hendo advancing the decline of Wanderlei Silva, the most intriguing part of Dan Henderson’s career has been his willingness to foray into the heavyweight waters despite being incredibly undersized for that division.
The first trip into the heavyweight division was at PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3 on December 23, 2002. The opponent was PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The fight was originally booked as Nogueira against the rising heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, but Fedor pulled out on two weeks’ notice due to an injury. Stepping in as the surprise replacement was Henderson. For anyone to come in against Nogueira on such short notice was akin to having a death wish. At this time Nogueira was a world beater, coming in on a nearly three year winning streak over heavyweight titans like Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, the monstrous Bob Sapp, and Semmy Schilt. Henderson was coming into the fight off a split decision win over Murilo “Ninja” Rua and a split decision loss to Ricardo Arona. He would also be giving up around forty pounds, as he weighed in at 195 lbs. to Nogueira’s 235 lbs. The combination of Nogueira’s submission skills (having submitted nine of his last twelve opponents) and size were figured to overwhelm Henderson.
What happened instead was stunning. Not only did Henderson not go away easily, he held his own for the bulk of the fight. In the first round, Henderson managed to wobble Nogueira with his vaunted overhand right. While he couldn’t stop Nogueira’s takedowns, he shocked the fans in attendance by working and fighting his way out of Nogueira’s submission attempts. Eventually, Nogueira’s size advantage proved to be too much and Henderson succumbed to an armbar in the third and final round. Even though he lost the fight, Dan Henderson gained a great deal of respect. Aside from his decision win against Heath Herring two years before, no one had pushed Noguiera into the last round and certainly no one withstood the amount of submission attempts Minotauro threw out there. Coming in on such short notice and pushing the world’s best heavyweight while competing at a weight befitting the next down and lasting as long as he did showed everyone that Dan Henderson was no easy out, no matter the circumstances.
Fast forward eight and a half years to July 30, 2011. Dan Henderson has been on a renaissance of sorts in Strikeforce, winning the promotion’s light heavyweight crown. With a lack of contenders and a need for big fights, Strikeforce presented Henderson with a fight he had suggested when he signed with the company in 2009: the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. While some of the luster was lost on this fight due to Fedor coming off back to back losses after having not legitimately lost a fight in his entire ten year career, it was still an intriguing match-up. Fedor was viewed as the favorite partly due to his legendary career and also due to the fact that he would be weighing close to 230 lbs. compared to 206 lbs. for Henderson. This difference would effectively nullify the strongest part of Dan’s game, the clinch. Coming into the fight Fedor had only been stopped by submission and a doctor stoppage, which meant some doubts were cast as to whether Hendo’s nuclear missile of a right could put him down.
Fans who tuned into this fight were treated to one of the wildest first rounds in MMA this year. Both men threw caution to the wind and went at it in a wild slugfest. Fedor struck first, dazing Henderson with one of his trademark looping hooks. Henderson recovered however and dropped the advancing Fedor with a left uppercut and landed several unanswered blows, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the fight with less than 50 seconds in the round.
With the finish, Dan Henderson earned the biggest win of his entire career and continued his improbable run at 205 lbs. If he manages to beat Mauricio Rua at UFC 139 a shot at either Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt or Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title could be on the horizon. Whether its a rematch with the greatest fighter of all time or a battle with the new, physically dominant future of the sport, Dan Henderson will again have to play the giant killer.
The first trip into the heavyweight division was at PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3 on December 23, 2002. The opponent was PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The fight was originally booked as Nogueira against the rising heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, but Fedor pulled out on two weeks’ notice due to an injury. Stepping in as the surprise replacement was Henderson. For anyone to come in against Nogueira on such short notice was akin to having a death wish. At this time Nogueira was a world beater, coming in on a nearly three year winning streak over heavyweight titans like Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, the monstrous Bob Sapp, and Semmy Schilt. Henderson was coming into the fight off a split decision win over Murilo “Ninja” Rua and a split decision loss to Ricardo Arona. He would also be giving up around forty pounds, as he weighed in at 195 lbs. to Nogueira’s 235 lbs. The combination of Nogueira’s submission skills (having submitted nine of his last twelve opponents) and size were figured to overwhelm Henderson.
What happened instead was stunning. Not only did Henderson not go away easily, he held his own for the bulk of the fight. In the first round, Henderson managed to wobble Nogueira with his vaunted overhand right. While he couldn’t stop Nogueira’s takedowns, he shocked the fans in attendance by working and fighting his way out of Nogueira’s submission attempts. Eventually, Nogueira’s size advantage proved to be too much and Henderson succumbed to an armbar in the third and final round. Even though he lost the fight, Dan Henderson gained a great deal of respect. Aside from his decision win against Heath Herring two years before, no one had pushed Noguiera into the last round and certainly no one withstood the amount of submission attempts Minotauro threw out there. Coming in on such short notice and pushing the world’s best heavyweight while competing at a weight befitting the next down and lasting as long as he did showed everyone that Dan Henderson was no easy out, no matter the circumstances.
Fast forward eight and a half years to July 30, 2011. Dan Henderson has been on a renaissance of sorts in Strikeforce, winning the promotion’s light heavyweight crown. With a lack of contenders and a need for big fights, Strikeforce presented Henderson with a fight he had suggested when he signed with the company in 2009: the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. While some of the luster was lost on this fight due to Fedor coming off back to back losses after having not legitimately lost a fight in his entire ten year career, it was still an intriguing match-up. Fedor was viewed as the favorite partly due to his legendary career and also due to the fact that he would be weighing close to 230 lbs. compared to 206 lbs. for Henderson. This difference would effectively nullify the strongest part of Dan’s game, the clinch. Coming into the fight Fedor had only been stopped by submission and a doctor stoppage, which meant some doubts were cast as to whether Hendo’s nuclear missile of a right could put him down.
Fans who tuned into this fight were treated to one of the wildest first rounds in MMA this year. Both men threw caution to the wind and went at it in a wild slugfest. Fedor struck first, dazing Henderson with one of his trademark looping hooks. Henderson recovered however and dropped the advancing Fedor with a left uppercut and landed several unanswered blows, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the fight with less than 50 seconds in the round.
With the finish, Dan Henderson earned the biggest win of his entire career and continued his improbable run at 205 lbs. If he manages to beat Mauricio Rua at UFC 139 a shot at either Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt or Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title could be on the horizon. Whether its a rematch with the greatest fighter of all time or a battle with the new, physically dominant future of the sport, Dan Henderson will again have to play the giant killer.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
PRIDE Comes Alive At UFC 139
Evidently, someone at Zuffa reads my constant hypothetical matchmaking. After the UFC on Fox card was announced with the main and co-main events I (and many others, to be fair) suggested and paired Overeem and Lesnar together for UFC 140 (or 141), the new main event for UFC 139 was revealed. Originally the main event was announced as Vitor Belfort vs. Cung Le (now Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le), an interesting bout but one that is completely irrelevant and unworthy of headlining a pay per view card. Now, in a battle of former PRIDE stars and current top ten light heavyweights, Dan Henderson will be facing off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
This is a huge fight that should be exciting for several reasons. For starters, they never faced each other in PRIDE, where both men plied their craft for years. It’s weird, as it seems like almost every possible combination of 205 pounders faced off at one point or another there. The chance to see two legends of that organization face off is, for lack of a better word, amazing.
Tying into this is the fact that not only are they both legends of the sport, but Hendo and Shogun are both still relevant in the sport. Henderson is the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and most recently moved up in weight to defeat the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, while Shogun just beat Forrest Griffin in the first round and is two fights removed from being the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. This isn’t Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, where both men had seen better days in their careers and the main purpose of their bout was nostalgic. This fight between Shogun and Rua could set one of these men up for a title shot next year against the winner of Jon Jones/Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans.
Last but not least, this should be a good fight, definitely one that is worthy of main eventing a pay per view card. While I always thought Hendo was boring in his most recent UFC stint (excepting his crushing of Michael Bisping at UFC 100), I think most of that can be attributed to fighting at middleweight, where he has always looked a bit sluggish. His PRIDE and Strikeforce stints at light heavyweight have been much more exciting. At 205 lbs., he is no longer “Decision” Dan and is instead “Hollywood” Henderson. He is a little small for that weight, but he makes up for it by fighting at a faster pace and utilizing a nuclear right hand to devastating effect. One only needs to see that he has won his last three fights by KO or TKO for proof of that. On the other side, Shogun is one of the most devastating and electric strikers in MMA history. He has possibly the best finishing instincts the sport has ever seen. Regardless of whether or not he is healthy, he shows up to fight. Really, that’s true of both men. Neither of them ever phone it in and that’s why this should be a great fight.
Early betting odds show Shogun as a slight favorite, which surprises me. Neither man has ever been KOed in their careers and Shogun’s knees still don’t look quite right to me. His technical advantage in striking is nearly nullified by the fact that Hendo’s right hand could kill a rhino and he will be at a clear disadvantage in grappling and cardio. I personally think that its more of a toss up, as if Shogun catches him early he will finish him. Fedor and Calcavante, two recent Hendo opponents, rocked Dan but didn’t pounce fast enough. Rest assured, that will not be the case if Rua connects. If I had to pick a winner right now, I would go with Henderson. He’s been on a roll over the past year and a half and even though he is considerably older than Shogun, he is in much better physical condition. I would lean towards him winning a decision or wearing Shogun down and finishing him in the third or fourth round. Either way, this should be a great fight that I know I can’t wait to see.
This is a huge fight that should be exciting for several reasons. For starters, they never faced each other in PRIDE, where both men plied their craft for years. It’s weird, as it seems like almost every possible combination of 205 pounders faced off at one point or another there. The chance to see two legends of that organization face off is, for lack of a better word, amazing.
Tying into this is the fact that not only are they both legends of the sport, but Hendo and Shogun are both still relevant in the sport. Henderson is the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and most recently moved up in weight to defeat the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, while Shogun just beat Forrest Griffin in the first round and is two fights removed from being the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. This isn’t Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, where both men had seen better days in their careers and the main purpose of their bout was nostalgic. This fight between Shogun and Rua could set one of these men up for a title shot next year against the winner of Jon Jones/Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans.
Last but not least, this should be a good fight, definitely one that is worthy of main eventing a pay per view card. While I always thought Hendo was boring in his most recent UFC stint (excepting his crushing of Michael Bisping at UFC 100), I think most of that can be attributed to fighting at middleweight, where he has always looked a bit sluggish. His PRIDE and Strikeforce stints at light heavyweight have been much more exciting. At 205 lbs., he is no longer “Decision” Dan and is instead “Hollywood” Henderson. He is a little small for that weight, but he makes up for it by fighting at a faster pace and utilizing a nuclear right hand to devastating effect. One only needs to see that he has won his last three fights by KO or TKO for proof of that. On the other side, Shogun is one of the most devastating and electric strikers in MMA history. He has possibly the best finishing instincts the sport has ever seen. Regardless of whether or not he is healthy, he shows up to fight. Really, that’s true of both men. Neither of them ever phone it in and that’s why this should be a great fight.
Early betting odds show Shogun as a slight favorite, which surprises me. Neither man has ever been KOed in their careers and Shogun’s knees still don’t look quite right to me. His technical advantage in striking is nearly nullified by the fact that Hendo’s right hand could kill a rhino and he will be at a clear disadvantage in grappling and cardio. I personally think that its more of a toss up, as if Shogun catches him early he will finish him. Fedor and Calcavante, two recent Hendo opponents, rocked Dan but didn’t pounce fast enough. Rest assured, that will not be the case if Rua connects. If I had to pick a winner right now, I would go with Henderson. He’s been on a roll over the past year and a half and even though he is considerably older than Shogun, he is in much better physical condition. I would lean towards him winning a decision or wearing Shogun down and finishing him in the third or fourth round. Either way, this should be a great fight that I know I can’t wait to see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)