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Is Dan Henderson Among the Top 5 MMA Fighters of All Time?

Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko. Without much debate, these amazing mixed martial artists have cemented themselves as the very best in the relatively short history of the sport of MMA. While those three have been set on a tier, th…

While those three have been set on a tier, the skies surrounding who comes next on the list are very cloudy. No one seems to have a real solid case for who should come next.

However, if we take a closer look at categories such as consistency, dominance and overall skill set, there is one fighter who seems to stand out from the rest. This fighter has traveled the world in search of the very best competition while defeating them in some of the best battles we have ever seen. Not only that, but he has done so while competing in three weight classes.

I’m talking, of course, about Dan “Hendo” Henderson.

A former two-time Olympic wrestler, Henderson made his debut in the sport in 1997 and quickly began planting the seeds for what has now blossomed into a Hall of Fame-level résumé.

Unlike many of the other veterans of the sport who had the benefit of padding their record against inferior talent, Dan Henderson has never been one to take fights against opponents who are obviously below his skill level. In fact, every one of the eight losses he has sustained in his career have come against an opponent that practically every MMA fan is very familiar with.

The eight losses might sound bad on the surface, but when you consider the quality of the 25 wins, it’s easy to see why a case can be made for Henderson as the fourth-greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Not only does Henderson have impressive victories over the likes of Shogun Rua, Rich Franklin, Rousimar Palhares, Feijao Cavalcante, Babalu Sobral, Renzo Gracie and Vitor Belfort, but he also did something that no other MMA fighter has ever done when he simultaneously held two major MMA championships, in separate weight classes, at the same time.

Henderson achieved this amazing feat at Pride 33 when, as the sitting Pride 185-pound champion, he opted to move to 205 pounds to defeat an opponent whom many believed to be essentially unbeatable at the time, a prime Wanderlei Silva.

This incredible two-title achievement alone should put Henderson in the conversation for being a top-five fighter of all time. However, it has been what he has done since that time that has truly put him over the top.

Now in the perceived twilight of his career, it’s astonishing to see that at 41 years old, “Dangerous Dan” is still every bit as threatening as he has ever been.

Following his most recent victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139, Henderson is currently riding a four-fight win streak, each of which came against a former top-level champion.

His victory over “Babalu” Sobral at “Strikeforce: St. Louis” earned him a shot at then-champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante’s Strikeforce light heavyweight championship. They met just three months later in a bout that Henderson would end up winning in violent fashion, knocking out Cavalcante with his trademark “H-Bomb” punch.

The Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce thinned out the light heavyweight division, but it was Henderson’s choice not to sit around and wait for another top contender to surface. Instead, he did the unthinkable when he opted to move up in weight for one night, challenging the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in July 2011.

Henderson survived some serious damage from Fedor midway through the round before recovering and catching Emelianenko off-guard with a huge punch that sent the former Pride heavyweight champion to the canvas for good.

The victory didn’t do much for Henderson’s ranking in the light heavyweight division, but what it did is prove once and for all that “Hollywood Henderson” is completely unphased by even the most intimidating of opponents.

All great things must come to an end, and with each passing year, experts continue to predict the drop-off for Henderson and his skills. But while others seem to fade away, it’s Henderson who seems to have found the fountain of youth.

As he awaits the winner of the upcoming UFC light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, Henderson will continue to improve. His 41-year-old body may not be in the peak physical condition that it once was; however, his mind for the fighting game has never been sharper.

An underdog no matter whom he eventually fights between Jones and Evans, Henderson will need to use every bit of that fight intellect to come out on top…but after a career like this, who could really be surprised if Hendo had one last run as the top 205-pounder in the world?

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Ben ‘Killa B’ Saunders: From Jeet Kune Do Beginnings to Bellator Competitor

Despite being only 28 years old, Ben Saunders is the man most traveled in the Bellator Season 6 welterweight tournament kicking off tomorrow night. He holds a professional record of 12-4-0 which includes a seven-fight stint with the UFC, where he went 4-3-0. There are some guys older than him and guys with more fights, but nobody else in the tournament has fought in the UFC—the NFL of MMA.

“It always, I’d say, plays its role as far as mental confidence for sure, I’ve been in there against the best in the world,” said Saunders on having fought for the UFC in the past.

Only one other fighter scheduled to fight in the Bellator welterweight tournament had fought in the UFC before, and that was Brian Foster. However, he was pulled from the event because he was not medically cleared as reported by MMAjunkie.com. The situation Foster is in could result in his retirement and it made Saunders reflect on how lucky he is.

“Anytime you get an injury you sit back and evaluate your life and your career and what you’re going to do and what’s going to happen, it can be depressing, it can be very scary at times,” Saunders said. “When that happened to him, it definitely made me be grateful and tell myself hey man whatever the hell you might be going through or might not be happy about or whatever, shut the hell up and suck it up because you’re still able to do what you want to do,” he continued. “They told me that he got pulled out and then and there that just completely changed my mood, it changed my mentality of everything and it kind of depressed me a little bit.”

Fighters have to deal with injuries and Foster’s situation definitely made Saunders reflect. Despite the impact Foster’s situation had on him, he’ll always give 100 percent and lay it all on the line in his fights, even if it is in a tournament where you need to be healthy to move on.

“I have a certain style that I bring to the cage, a certain aggressiveness, I come to fight. I can’t be thinking what if I do this or what if I do that and that injures me for the next round,” Saunders said. “I’m going to go out on my shield, there is no tournament to me, for me there is no point to even think of anything beyond what’s in front of me.”

Saunders’ attitude is probably a reflection of his passion for the martial arts and combat sports that began at a young age.

“From a very young age, I was like seven to eight years old, my oldest brother was taking karate and he’d come home and beat the crap out of me,” Saunders recalled. “He wouldn’t even beat the crap out of me as in we’d fight, I remember one particular point in time he was like, ‘Hey stand right there I want to show you something really cool’ and then he did a spinning back kick to my gut,” Saunders continued. “My older brother is probably one of the main reasons I got in to martial arts.”

Saunders fell in love with martial arts and was particularly fond of late martial artist Bruce Lee. Lee developed Jeet Kune Do, a martial arts system and philosophy in life. Lee inspired Saunders and he feels Lee is very much responsible for the popularity mixed martial arts has received today. Saunders is one of probably a handful of mixed martial artists whose base is in Jeet Kune Do.

“When I was 14 there was actually a JKD academy that opened up and I was able to convince my parents to let me get a job at McDonald’s to pay for it myself,” Saunders said. “That was the first time I actually started getting a true training, other than that throughout my life a lot of my style is self-taught.”

Tonight, Saunders will be taking on 9-0 fighter Raul Amaya and maybe you’ll get a chance to see some Jeet Kune Do elements come out in his fight. Amaya has a lot of submission wins. and although Saunders hasn’t seen many of his fights, he isn’t taking Amaya lightly.

“The one thing I will say is he’s got a lot of heart, he’s got maybe some power in his hands even if his technique is a little sloppy and he’s got conditioning at what not because he seems to be able to wear his opponents down and catch them later on in the fights,” Saunders said. “Stylistically he seems like a brawling wrestler, the thing I need to watch out for anybody I fight is it doesn’t matter who they are, everyone’s got a punchers chance,” he continued. “I just have to go out there and do what I do best, fight my fight, don’t let him fight his fight and my hand will be raised hopefully via knockout or submission before the third.”

I’m not sure if Saunders is superstitious or not, but he did tell me that the last time he fought in Connecticut for Bellator he was on the same card as his two teammates and all three guys won. Now almost a year later and in Connecticut, he is again fighting with two teammates on the same card.

Should Saunders win, he will move in to the semifinals of the tournament. If he wins the tournament this year, Saunders will get his shot at either a rematch with Douglas Lima or a fight with current Bellator title holder Ben Askren. Askren and Lima fight next week at Bellator 64. Saunders lost to Lima in the tournament finals last season.

Saunders welcomes a potential rematch with Lima, but isn’t a huge fan of fighting teammates either.

“I’m never too fond about fighting teammates man, I mean we do what we do because we are professionals and because we respect each other,” Saunders said. “If our paths cross again, you know what it’s going to be another great fight.”

You can catch Saunders tonight at 8:00 EST on MTV2 as he tries to move on to the semifinals of the tournament. Before concluding my conversation with him, Saunders urged fans to follow him on Twitter @bensaundersMMA and check out his walk out t-shirt at bensaundersmma.com.

Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the BR MMA Interview team, Follow @Leon_Horne

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UFC on Fuel TV 2: Does Alexander Gustafsson Pose a Threat to Jon Jones?

Jon Jones has gone through a metamorphosis-type of change in his life since 2009. At UFC 94, Jones displayed his amazing combination of strength, length and athleticism by completely outclassing The Ultimate Fighter’s season one finalist Stephan Bonnar with spinning back elbows, kicks and Greco-Roman throws that looked like something out of a comic book. The only difference is Jon “Bones” Jones is very much real.

Now, just three short years and some change later and Jon Jones is not only the UFC’s undisputed light heavyweight champion, but he also is coming off possibly the greatest calender year in the history of his sport. Yes, I know it is incredible! The guy is absolutely amazing and the scary part is he can only get better.

In 2011, Jones started the year viewed as a top ten light heavyweight with a very high ceiling. He ended the year looking like an unstoppable martial artist with combined submission, wrestling and striking skills that would rival any mixed martial artist to ever tape up the four-ounce gloves.

In his first bout of the year, Jones dispatched top contender Ryan Bader by submission at UFC 126 in February. In March, Bones stepped in for future opponent Rashad Evans and handed a one-sided beatdown to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to capture the 205 pound world title. Jones then finished the year with two submission wins over former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida.

It was a remarkable year for a fighter who is improving and learning. He has been dominant already in the UFC and the scary thing is he is still hungry to take it to the next level.

It appears that there are only a small number of opponents to oppose Jon Jones this year. Really after you consider Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson and a possible Shogun rematch (albeit an extremely unlikely fight) there is only Alexander Gustafsson left near the top at this point. Every other fighter seems to be either too far away from a shot, too green, over the hill, unworthy or a number of other reasons you can insert here.

Gustafsson started his UFC career with a bang by knocking out Jared Hammon at UFC 105 in less than a minute. A quick setback loss by submission to Phil Davis has now been offset by an impressive four fight win streak in the Octagon including two knockouts and two rear naked choke victories, respectively.

The “Mauler” recently picked up his biggest win to date at UFC 141 when he knocked out Vladimir Matyushenko in two minutes to solidify his top ten status among fellow light heavyweights in the UFC. He now looks to make a statement for a title at UFC on Fuel TV 2 by taking on slugger Thiago Silva who is to be a late replacement for the injured Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

If Gustafsson wins this bout, I could easily see the UFC giving him a number one contender fight in his next bout. Only Dan Henderson is next after Jon Jones’ dispatch of Rashad Evans, so Alexander could be getting his shot by the end of this calender year.

The real question here is if Gustafsson poses much of a challenge to the champion. Is Alexander Gustafsson a threat to Jon Jones? He is a threat only in a puncher’s chance sort of way. He is a threat in the same way that Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson both have heavy hands and can knock someone out at 205 pounds.

But, the simple fact of the matter is that Jones has too much reach, too much movement, effective wrestling, improvised submissions and flying strikes that no other man can duplicate. He has been dominant in the UFC in a way that only the great Anderson Silva can match.

Alexander Gustafsson may have a tough time with Thiago Silva, as well. If Silva is healthy and in good shape for this fight, I have doubts about the Swedish native winning his UFC on Fuel TV 2 bout, let alone a bout with the champion. Gustafsson is not a threat to Jones at this point, but he is dangerous and if he learns to use his range like Jones does, he could very well hold the gold one day down the road. I just don’t see him taking it from Jon Jones.

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Why the UFC Needs to Create a Wrestlemania-Style Super Event

This Sunday the WWE is set to unleash Wrestlemania XXVIII, its premier show of the year.To the company’s credit, they’ve thrown together a stacked card with superstars like The Rock, John Cena, Triple H and The Undertaker to take center sta…

This Sunday the WWE is set to unleash Wrestlemania XXVIII, its premier show of the year.

To the company’s credit, they’ve thrown together a stacked card with superstars like The Rock, John Cena, Triple H and The Undertaker to take center stage.

Every year, the WWE puts on a huge show that is able to earn a ton of money in PPV buys and gain a ton of media interest, and this year seems to be no exception.

The headlining bout between The Rock and Cena has the potential to sell over a million PPVs by itself.

Last year, Wrestlemania 27 had roughly 1,120,000 PPV buys, which was over 300,000 more than any single UFC event in 2011.

The UFC annually has out-performed the WWE in overall PPV numbers the last few years, but they have struggled to get an event to reach the heights of a Wrestlemania-like show.

But the UFC’s promotion team is extremely good at promoting each and every event they put on, and with the right amount of planning, time I think they could create an event that could gain as much fanfare as Wrestlemania does for the WWE.

Not only would an event of this caliber help the sport itself grow dramatically, but it would create a media circus that the UFC is generally unable to find.

It would take a huge fight card with at least two title fights and a few more high caliber bouts to make the card live up to its expectations, but the UFC has gone above and beyond before (UFC 100).

Barring any injuries, it could do the same thing on an annual basis and they could just throw a name to the event instead of going by the standard numbered event they have used for most of their cards.

If the UFC was able to throw rising superstars like Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre on the card—even better.

And they could easily use the remainder of the main card to give guys like Rory MacDonald and Renan Barao the exposure they need to gain PPV buys for themselves when they reach the top level of the sport.

Obviously things like injuries and putting on a top level show each and every month will make this event a little harder for the UFC to create, because unlike the WWE, they can’t have the same guys fighting on every PPV card.

The UFC has always made sure to evolve as the sport grows, and a super event is a logical step in the progression of the sport.

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Cutting Through the Noise: On King Mo, Racism, and Speaking English

As it turns out, it isn’t always good to be the king.On Tuesday, March 27, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal for nine months, fined him 30% of his $80,000 fight purse, and stripped him of his $15,000 win bonus for …

As it turns out, it isn’t always good to be the king.

On Tuesday, March 27, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal for nine months, fined him 30% of his $80,000 fight purse, and stripped him of his $15,000 win bonus for failing a post-fight drug test following his Jan 7 fight against Lorenz Larkin, as well as failing to properly disclose information regarding his supplements and knee injury on a medical questionnaire.

Though just two days old, this story has been broken down, discussed, rehashed, and assessed from just about all possible angles. Nary a soul, save perhaps Lawal himself, believes he was unfairly punished by the NSAC.

Rather, the controversy stems from a seemingly innocuous question, asked some 10 minutes into the hearing, from NSAC commissioner Pat Lundvall (the audio can be found below, at around minute 6:55, courtesy of MMA Weekly):

“Can you understand English? Can you read English?”

Perceiving Lundvall’s question as not only disrespectful, but racist, Lawal later posted a tweet (which has since been deleted) saying he felt Lundvall was “a racist bitch in asking [him] if [he] can read or speak english.”

Shortly thereafter, Strikeforce announced Lawal had been cut from their roster, sparking the aforementioned discussion and rehashing of the situation by MMA media and fans alike.

The various reactions to this situation that I’ve encountered all seem to generally agree that Lawal’s NSAC punishment was just, his reaction was foolhardy, and that Lundvall’s question was maybe a bit rude, if not downright inappropriate.

One notable exception, that I take particular issue with, is Kevin Iole’s reaction. In a piece for Yahoo Sports entitled “Media had it all wrong: Commissioner wasn’t racist and Lawal got what he deserved,” Iole presents the case that Lundvall was simply doing her job, building a case during questioning about why Lawal failed to accurately fill out the pre-fight medical questionnaire:

Lundvall’s reason for asking Lawal if he read and understood English is what lawyers do when they’re building a case during questioning. She was boxing him in and leaving him no room. When he said yes, she asked about why he didn’t disclose the knee injury on the questionnaire he filled out at the weigh-in and why he didn’t mention he was taking something for it.

It had zero racist intent. She was trying to expose that Lawal hadn’t been forthcoming with the commission until he was forced to do so.

Iole’s point is well taken. Lundvall was attempting to box Lawal in. But that does not make it right, nor does it make it appropriate.

The correct time for a question meant to determine language fluency is at the beginning of a trial or hearing. It’s a common and accepted practice during a plea litany to ensure the defendant understands English and doesn’t need a translator in order to adequately partake in the legal proceedings. Determining one’s understanding of the language being spoken needs to occur before questions are asked, not during.

Rolling your eyes, taking an annoyed tone, and asking this question 10 minutes into the NSAC proceedings, when the defendant—a college graduate, I should add—has been responding to English, in English, is purely incendiary and unprofessional. She may as well have said, “Are you an idiot?”

As for whether or not the question can be perceived as racist, well, that’s another issue altogether.

I am a white male. I have never been the victim of racism. By all reasonable standards, I am not a qualified arbiter for what is, or is not, racist. For me, or any other person who hasn’t themselves faced racism, to say that Lawal is incorrect in his perception of Lundvall’s question is out of line.

If someone that clearly knows I speak English asked me if I spoke English, I wouldn’t assume they were attacking my intellect based upon my race. But I’ve never had my intellect questioned because of my race. For other reasons, sure, but never because of my race.

Lawal explains in an interview with Bloody Elbow—where he also comments that Lundvall rolled her eyes—that this has happened to him many times. It’s through that experiential lens which Lawal interpreted Lundvall’s question. It doesn’t excuse his reaction, which was unprofessional in itself, but who are we to deem his feelings incorrect?

Regardless of where you happen to stand on this issue, I think all can agree on this point: If Lundvall’s question—and, more importantly, the timing and way in which she asked it—was completely acceptable and ordinary, this wouldn’t be a discussion.

Res ipsa loquitor. The thing speaks for itself.

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UFC on Fox: Will FX Change the Ultimate Fighter Live Running Time?

I just finished watching the third episode of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Live on FX channel. The episode aired last Friday, March 23, 2012 in a one-hour time block. This season has been revolutionary for the series and for the UFC as a company.The new …

The new season features live fights that air each week instead of previously taped contests like in seasons past. The UFC has also moved the show to the FX network as part of their seven-year television deal with the Fox family of networks, putting the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the sport of mixed martial arts in millions of living rooms each and every Friday night for the next several weeks.

This season has been one of the most entertaining in a long time. Coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber are both champions of the sport and they know what it takes to make it at the UFC level. In 2007 Urijah Faber was the World Extreme Cagefighting 145-pound featherweight champion and Cruz was the young gun looking for a signature win to add to his resume.

Faber won their first contest with relative ease, but Dominick was a newcomer at that time, not quite ready for where the sport could take him.

Flash forward to 2011 and Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber met again at UFC 132, this time they were fighting for Cruz’s 135-pound UFC bantamweight championship. Cruz took the nod in a back and forth affair in their second bout. And now on July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cruz and Faber will have their rubber match, a third chance to prove who is the better man.

Even though this season of TUF Live has been pretty epic, and even considering the knockouts in the first two in-house episodes of the show; this season is still missing something in its execution.

When I sat down this evening to finally watch last weeks’ episode I was disappointed by one glaring mistake that reared its ugly head for the second week in a row.

What was this mistake you ask?

Well, the mistake is that this show runs in a one-hour time block on FX and many people, like myself, must tape it on a DVR to watch later. The glitch is that the show is running about five to ten minutes over the one-hour time block. Therefore, I miss the announcement of the official winner and the next fight pick each week.

I have been a dedicated viewer of this show since season three and it is disheartening to miss an important part of each show due to a timing error. I hope this mistake is fixed soon. The network could simply add another 15 time slot onto the show and it would solve this issue.

Is anyone else out there experiencing this too? I just want to see the entire show and support the sport. Surely, FX will fix this minor problem soon and there will absolutely no complaints from this writer about the show in the future.

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