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Dan Henderson Bio

Daniel Jeffery Henderson, (born August 24, 1970) is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight 183�lb (83�kg; 13.1�st) and Middleweight 205�lb (93�kg; 14.6�st) champion of 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 also the UFC 17 middleweight tournament champion, the 1997 Brazil Open lightweight tournament champion, the 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament champion, and the Pride 2005 Grand Prix welterweight tournament champion.

Henderson also owns the Clinch Gear MMA apparel brand. As of December 2011, Henderson is ranked the #2 light heavyweight and #7 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog, #2 light heavyweight by Fight! magazine, and the #7 light heavyweight by MMA Weekly.

Background

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. He was a member of the 1987 Victor Valley High School wrestling team state champions. 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.

Mixed martial arts career

He began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW). Henderson holds notable wins over Carlos Newton, Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Renato Sobral (x2), Renzo Gracie, Murilo Rua, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Rafael Cavalcante, Fedor Emelianenko and Maurício Rua.

Early career and Ultimate Fighting Championship

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 fight, 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 Sobral on the evening of February 26, 2000, to win the tournament.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Henderson later began competing in Pride Fighting Championships, fighting 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 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 and gain the Pride middleweight 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 eye-poke in the third round that many, including Franklin himself, thought was intentional. He 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", and is considered one of the greatest knockouts in the history of the sport.

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. He was also eyed for a light heavyweight match against Gegard Mousasi, and expressed interest in eventually fighting Fedor Emelianenko at some point during his 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).

Henderson faced Renato Sobral on December 4, 2010 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu. Henderson won the fight via KO at 1:53 of the first round.

Henderson defeated Rafael Cavalcante via third round TKO for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship at Strikeforce 32. After two rounds in which all three judges had the score tied 19-19, Henderson dropped Cavalcante with his famed right hand in the third. Cavalcante went down face-first and was knocked out before referee Dan Miragliotta called the fight off at the 0:50 mark.

Henderson fought Fedor Emelianenko on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. Many had speculated that Henderson would meet Fedor at a catch weight, but Strikeforce later confirmed the fight as a heavyweight bout. Henderson said, “Its tough for me to gain weight. I did weightlifting and plenty of eating; I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do. I’m not going to feel outmatched or small in there.” He had to step on the scales weighing at least 206 pounds in order to qualify for the heavyweight division, and weighed in at 207. Fedor weighed in a bit below his normal weight, with the scale reading 223 pounds. Henderson defeated Emelianenko via TKO (punches) at 4:12 of the 1st round. It was also noted that this was the last fight under Henderson's current Strikeforce contract. Henderson expressed that he would like to re-sign in order to defend his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.

Third UFC Run

Shortly after the UFC 133 pre-fight press conference, Dana White commented on the potential to bring Henderson back to the UFC for a third go-around. “We’ll see what happens,” White said on Thursday in Philadelphia. “‘Hendo and I have had some history in dealing. We’ll see if we can figure something out and get him back in the UFC.” Later Henderson commented, “I think the biggest fight they could promote is probably a title unification with whoever is the champ in the UFC.”

Henderson faced Mauricio Rua on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139 for his third return to the UFC. He won the bout via unanimous decision. The back and forth action earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors, and was described by many as one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Personal life

Dan Henderson is part Welsh, 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 Sam Gollmyer and assisted by their father Bill Henderson and Joe Barrios. Henderson has been prescribed testosterone replacement therapy after being diagnosed with low testosterone levels in 2007.

Henderson was 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. 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.

As of February 28, 2011, Henderson is in litigation over the Team Quest trademark with former teammate Matt Lindland.

Championships and awards

Mixed martial arts

• Strikeforce
  • Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)
  • Oldest combatant to win a Strikeforce championship (40 years, 194 days)

• PRIDE Fighting Championships
  • PRIDE World Middleweight Championship (One time; Last)
  • PRIDE World Welterweight Championship (One time; First; Last)
  • 2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Champion
  • First combatant to win PRIDE championships in multiple weight classes (Two)
  • First combatant to simultaneously hold multiple PRIDE championships (Two)

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Winner
  • Fight of the Night (Two times)
  • Knockout of the Night (One time)
  • 2011 Fight of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19 [1]

• Fighting Network RINGS
  • RINGS King of Kings 1999 Tournament Winner

• Brazil Open Fight
  • Brazil Open 1997 Lightweight Tournament Winner

• World MMA Awards
  • 2009 Knockout of the Year vs. Michael Bisping on July 11

• ESPN
  • 2011 Fight of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19
  • 2011 Round of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19; Round 1

• Inside MMA
  • 2011 Fight of the Year Bazzie Award vs. Maurício Rua on November 19

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 2011 Fight of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19

• MMAFighting
  • 2011 Fight of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19

• Yahoo! Sports
  • 2011 Fight of the Year vs. Maurício Rua on November 19

• MiddleEasy
  • 2011 Frate Trane of the Year

• Inside Fights
  • 2009 Knockout of the Year vs. Michael Bisping on July 11

• FIGHT! Magazine
  • 2009 Knockout of the Year vs. Michael Bisping on July 11

• Black Belt Magazine
  • 2007 MMA Fighter of the Year [2]

Amateur wrestling

• International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
  • 2000 Henri Deglane Challenge Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist
  • 2000 Pan American Championships Senior-Greco Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1999 Nordvest Cup Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist
  • 1998 Henri Deglane Challenge Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist
  • 1998 Pan American Championships Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist
  • 1998 FILA Test Tournament Senior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1998 Tropheo Milone Tournament Senior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1998 Vehbi Emri Tournament Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist
  • 1997 Concord Cup International Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist
  • 1997 Gold Medal Challenge Senior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1996 World Cup Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist
  • 1995 Pan American Games Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist
  • 1995 Sunkist Kids International Open Senior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1994 World Cup Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist
  • 1994 Pan American Championships Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist
  • 1990 FILA Wrestling World Championships Junior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist
  • 1984 Pan American Championships Senior Greco-Roman Silver Medalist

• National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award (2010)

• USA Wrestling
  • USA Senior Greco-Roman Olympic Team Trials Winner (1992, 1996)
  • FILA Senior Greco-Roman World Team Trials Winner (1994, 1997)
  • FILA Senior Greco-Roman World Team Trials Runner-up (1999, 2001)
  • USA Senior Greco-Roman National Championship (1993, 1994, 1997)
  • USA Senior Greco-Roman National Championship Runner-up (2000)
  • USA University Greco-Roman National Championship (1991, 1993, 1994)
  • USA Junior Greco-Roman National Championship (1988)
  • USA Junior Freestyle National Championship (1988)
  • 1999 Mini-Tournament at World Team Trials Senior Greco-Roman Gold Medalist

• Amateur Wrestling News Magazine
  • 1990 Amateur Wrestling News Freshman All-American

• California Interscholastic Federation
  • CIF High School State Championship Runner-up (1987)
  • CIF All-State (1987, 1988)
  • CIF Southern Section Championship (1987, 1988)

Mixed martial arts record

Championships and accomplishments

Filmography

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Dan Henderson MySpace
• Professional MMA record for Dan Henderson from Sherdog
• Olympic profile at sports-reference.com
• Clinch Gear
• Official Clinch Gear MySpace
• Dan Henderson at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Team Quest

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