Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Henderson was the first mixed martial artist to hold two titles in two different weight classes concurrently in a major MMA promotion.
He was a member of the 1987 Victor Valley High School wrestling team state champions.
He reached the 2001 world team trials finals, but was defeated by Matt Lindland, and after that focused on an MMA career.
[12] Henderson began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW).
[13] 1997 saw Henderson make his debut in MMA, following in the footsteps of other wrestlers who were finding success in the sport.
The tournament was full of many notable competitors, and Henderson faced Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Renato Sobral.
The opening two rounds of the eight-man tournament were fought at Pride Bushido 9, at which Henderson knocked out both Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono.
Henderson became the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously in a major MMA organization.
Henderson won the fight via a split decision following an eye-poke in the third round that many, including Franklin, thought was intentional.
This win put Henderson back into contention for a title shot at the UFC Middleweight Champion.
[17] Immediately after the fight, Henderson stated that "I hit him hard, but I got that last blow in just to shut him up a little bit."
"[18] Dan Henderson signed a four-fight, 16-month deal with Strikeforce on December 5, 2009, after his contract expired with the UFC.
[19] He was also eyed for a light heavyweight match against Gegard Mousasi,[20] and expressed interest in eventually fighting Fedor Emelianenko at some point during his contract.
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 before referee Dan Miragliotta called the fight off at the 0:50 mark.
[23][24] Many had speculated that Henderson would meet Fedor at a catch weight, but Strikeforce later confirmed the fight as a heavyweight bout.
"[30] 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 Vitor Belfort in a rematch on November 9, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 32.
He lost the fight via knockout in the first round, marking the first time in his MMA career that he had been stopped due to strikes.
[41] In January 2014, a rematch with Maurício Rua was announced to take place on March 23, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 38.
[43] Making a quick return to the cage, Henderson faced a much larger Daniel Cormier on May 24, 2014, at UFC 173.
[47] Henderson faced Tim Boetsch on June 6, 2015, in the main event at UFC Fight Night 68.
[49] Henderson faced Vitor Belfort in a rubber match in the main event at UFC Fight Night 77.
[51] A rematch with Lyoto Machida was expected to take place at Middleweight on April 16, 2016, at UFC on Fox 19.
[52] However, on April 13, the UFC announced that Machida declared the usage of a banned substance during an out-of-competition sample collection last week.
[54] He won the fight via knockout in the second round via a head kick followed by a reverse elbow and earned himself a Performance of the Night bonus, as well as becoming the first fighter to knock Lombard out cold.
[57] Despite dropping and nearly finishing Bisping in both the first and second round, he wound up losing the back and forth fight via unanimous decision.
He placed second at the California State Wrestling Championship in 1987 and Victor Valley won the team title.
"[66] Dan Henderson is an owner of Team Quest Fitness Gym located in Temecula, California.
As of February 28, 2011, Henderson is in litigation over the Team Quest trademark with former teammate Matt Lindland.