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Dan Henderson Bio

Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former Olympic wrestler and current mixed martial artist fighting for Strikeforce and was the last Welterweight 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) and Middleweight 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) champion of the Pride Fighting Championships. He was the only mixed martial artist to concurrently hold two titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA promotion. Henderson is the UFC 17 middleweight, Pride 2005 welterweight and 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament champion. Henderson also owns the Clinch Gear MMA apparel brand. He holds notable victories over Carlos Newton, Renzo Gracie, Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante, Michael Bisping, Renato Sobral, Rich Franklin, Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva. Henderson is ranked as the #5 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.com and as the #6 middleweight in the world by MMAweekly.

Biography

Dan Henderson was born in Downey, California and grew up in Apple Valley, California. He attended Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, and earned medals at the California State Wrestling Championships in 1987 and 1988. Henderson went on to wrestle at both Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State University, participating in the 1993 NCAA championships. He represented the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling.

MMA career

He began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW).

Early career and UFC

In his first year of MMA competition, Henderson won the Brazil Open, a four-man heavyweight tournament. Just one year later, he won the UFC 17 tournament, defeating Allan Goes and Carlos Newton. In his next MMA foray, Henderson defeated five opponents over the course of two events to claim the 1999 RINGS King of Kings title. He won two fights on October 28, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan, to qualify for the finals, and then beat Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato "Babulu" Sobral on the evening of February 26, 2000, to win the tournament.

Pride FC

Henderson later found a home with the Pride Fighting Championships, competing primarily in the middleweight (205 lb) division. In Pride, Henderson competed against many of the sport's elite fighters including Wanderlei Silva, Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Rua, Murilo Bustamante, Yuki Kondo, Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono.

When Pride began its Bushido brand, Henderson won their first welterweight 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) tournament, defeating Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono by knockout, and then defeating Bustamante by split decision in the finals to capture the welterweight title. At Pride Bushido 10, Henderson defeated Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision after hurting him with strikes on numerous occasions. Henderson later entered the second Pride Welterweight Grand Prix, losing by decision in a rematch with Misaki.

Henderson's final Pride bout was a rematch with Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 24, 2007, where he scored a one-punch knockout victory to become Middleweight Champion, while still holding his Welterweight title. Henderson became the first fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA organization.

UFC return

On September 8, 2007, Henderson returned to the UFC to face light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 75 in London, England. In a closely contested fight that saw Henderson impose his will early, Jackson controlled the later rounds and won a five-round unanimous decision to retain his title.

On November 17, 2007, it was announced during the post fight at UFC 78 that Henderson would fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva to unify the Pride welterweight (183 lb) and UFC middleweight (185 lb) championships. UFC 82 took place on March 1, 2008 and was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Despite winning the first round, Henderson lost via submission at 4:52 of the second round by rear naked choke.

Henderson bounced back from his inauspicious start in the UFC with a victory over highly-touted Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88, winning by unanimous decision. It was his first win in the UFC in over ten years. After the bout, Henderson laughed and said, "Hopefully I don't have to wait that long before I get my next win."

Henderson returned to the light heavyweight division to face former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin on January 17, 2009, at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Henderson won the fight via a split decision following an unintentional eye-poke in the third round. and was subsequently selected to lead Team U.S. on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, with Michael Bisping coaching the opposing Team UK.

Coaching The Ultimate Fighter and aftermath

The reality TV show, which spawned a feud between the two coaches that continued until their fight, aired on Spike TV and premiered on April 1, 2009, with the live finale on June 20, 2009 in Las Vegas. Dan received a high-end Land Rover for being coach on the show, along with Bisping.

On July 11, 2009 at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Henderson and Bisping settled their differences with their fists, culminating with Henderson becoming the first man to knock Bisping out, doing so in the second round with a right hook to the jaw as Bisping was circling to Henderson's right. This win put Henderson back into contention for a title shot at the UFC Middleweight Champion. The knockout punch also won Henderson a $100,000 bonus for "Knockout of the Night."

Controversy arose from the fight due to Henderson immediately following up his knockout punch with a flying forearm-drop to the prone Bisping's head shortly before referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight at 3:20. Immediately after the fight, Henderson addressed the issue of the final blow to the knocked-out Bisping, saying "Normally I'm not that way in fights. I know if the guy's out, I tend to stop. I knew I hit him out and I think that one was just to shut him up a little bit."

After UFC president Dana White said Henderson had made those comments in jest, Henderson clarified stating, "When you're in the heat of the moment, the ref hadn't stopped me yet, who knows what's going to happen, if he's going to recover. I really only hit him twice, once on my feet, once on the ground. I didn't keep going. I didn't go after him after the ref tried to stop me, it was nothing like that. It was a reaction of mine to keep going until I was stopped—and you know, it did feel good though."

Strikeforce

Dan Henderson signed a four-fight, 16-month deal with Strikeforce on December 5, 2009, after his contract expired with the UFC. Henderson made his Strikeforce debut on April 17, 2010 at Strikeforce on CBS against Jake Shields. Henderson, who also fights at light heavyweight, is being eyed for a matchup against Gegard Mousasi. Henderson has also expressed interest in eventually fighting World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at some point during his new contract. Henderson lost his Strikeforce debut to Jake Shields. Despite hurting Shields and knocking him down in the 1st round, Henderson went on to lose by unanimous decision. The majority of the last rounds were spent on the ground where Shields controlled the fight via grappling. (49–46, 49–45, 48–45).

Personal life

Dan Henderson is part English, Scottish, French and Native American. He grew up on a ranch in Apple Valley, California. He started wrestling at a young age and started being noticed as a relentless competitor. When he entered high school he placed on the wrestling team with his brother Tom at Victor Valley High, which was coached by their father Bill Henderson, Sam Gollmyer and Joe Barrios.

Dan was also coached by Bob Anderson, of the California Jets (now a defunct organization). He placed second at the California State Wrestling Championship in 1987 and Victor Valley won the team title. In 1988, he placed fifth in the state finals and several months later won national crowns in both freestyle and Greco Roman at the Junior Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

He has three children with his wife Alison. He now lives in Temecula, California and is currently associated with Team Quest where he trains with fellow fighters Matt Lindland and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. He is currently training fighters such as newcomer Albert Mercado, Krzysztof Soszynski, Phil Davis, Dave Kohn, Tyron Woodley, Jake Morris, and Justin Nelson. Henderson has also made guest appearances on television shows such as The King of Queens, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Inside MMA and Rome is Burning.

According to the March 2007 Confederated Umatilla Journal: "Henderson's grandmother, Alice (Bergevin) LeJune, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and owns land on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From all accounts, Henderson is 1/16 Walla Walla Native American." In the interview Henderson commented: "Now I know I'm Walla Walla. It's refreshing to find some of those things out. I look Indian and I knew I had some, but I didn't know what tribe or exactly how much. It will be good to be able to tell my kids about their heritage."

Clinch Gear

Henderson owns the Clinch Gear MMA apparel brand, which he acquired in January 2007 after wearing Clinch Gear shorts in many of his fights in the preceding two years. He has grown the product line to include 11 colors of performance board shorts in two styles, including the Primo Hendo signature model.

Team Quest

Dan Henderson is an owner of Team Quest Fitness Gym located in Murrieta, California.

Championships and awards

Wrestling

• United States

1990 Espoir Nationals champion

1990 Junior Nationals double champion

1990–91 U.S. Olympic Festival champion

1991 & 1993–94 University Nationals champion

1992 Final Olympic Wrestle-off champion

1992 Olympic Team Trials champion

1992 Western Regional Olympic Trials champion

1993–94 World Team Trials champion

1993–94 U.S. Nationals champion

1996 West Regional Olympic Trials champion

1988 Espoir Nationals (2nd)

1995 World Team Trials (3rd)

1991 U.S. Nationals (3rd)

1992 U.S. Nationals (5th)

1990 University Nationals (4th)

1989 Espoir Nationals (5th)

1996 U.S. Nationals (6th)

1990 U.S. Nationals (7th)

• International

1995 Sunkist International Open champion

1994 World Cup (2nd)

1994 Pan American Championships (2nd)

1991 Concord Cup (3rd)

1995 Pan American Games (3rd)

1994 German Grand Prix (4th)

1993 German Grand Prix (7th)

1992 Olympics (10th)

1994 U.S. World team member

Mixed martial arts

• Pride Fighting Championships

Pride FC Middleweight Championship (1 Time, Last)

Pride FC Welterweight Championship (1 Time, First, Last)

2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner

• Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Winner

Knockout of the Night (1 Time)

Fight of the Night (1 Time)

• Fighting Network RINGS

RINGS King of Kings 1999 Tournament Winner

• Brazil Open Fight

Brazil Open 1997 Lightweight Tournament Winner

• World MMA Awards

Knockout of the Year (2009)

• Inside Fights

2009 Knockout of the Year

• FIGHT! Magazine

2009 Knockout of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

Championships and accomplishments

External links

• Official site
• Official Dan Henderson MySpace
• Professional MMA record for Dan Henderson from Sherdog
• Clinch Gear
• Official Clinch Gear MySpace
• Dan Henderson at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Team Quest

MMA Shirts

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