Daniel Jeffery Henderson
Daniel Jeffery Henderson (nickname Hollywood, Dangerous) born on August 24, 1970, is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and the reigning welterweight and middleweight champion in the PRIDE Fighting Championship. He is related to Team Quest. His professional MMA record as on February 2007 is 22-5-0. Resident of Apple Valley, California, he studied in Victorville, California and was awarded California State Placer twice. He started wrestling at Arizona State University, and participated in the 1993 NCAA Championships. He has trained along with Pan Am Silver Medalist Jeff Funicello. Then he shifted to the international circuit, representing the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.
His latest fight was at at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas on February 24, 2007, where he defeated Wanderlei Silva by KO in the 3rd round and causing a major upset. He then became the new Middleweight Champion. He is the only other fighter in MMA history to hold two world titles in two different weight categories in a major organization and is the first fighter in the history to hold them at the same time.
Dan started wrestling when he was 5 year of age. He was a member of USA Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling teams in 1992 and 1996.
In 1997, Dan began training in mixed martial arts, at behest of his friend and fellow wrestler Randy Couture, who invited Dan to join Rico Chiapparelli Real American Wrestling team (RAW). Presently, Henderson trains with Team Quest, with his contemporaries Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Nate Quarry and Chris Leben from The Ultimate Fighter TV show. Right in the first year of MMA training, he won the Brazil Open tournament and another year later, he contested and won the UFC 17 tournament in 1998, by defeating Allen Goes and Carlos Newton.
Then Henderson left the UFC and moved to Japan for better financial gain. There he contested in Rings and Pride Fighting Championships. Hhe won the 1999 Rings - King of Kings tournament. Beating 2 opponents in a night to reach the finals, and then defeating 3 better opponents such as Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato "Babulu" Sobral to win the tournament. Until then, the 185 pound division was not present in Pride, and so Henderson contested the 205 pounds category for majority of his career.
He fought against some of the best fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Ricardo Arona. When Pride started its Bushido shows, and introduced lower weight categories, Henderson contested and won their first ever 185 pound grand prix, by beating Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono by knockout, and then scoring a win over Murilo Bustamante by a close split decision in the finals.
At PRIDE Bushido 10, Henderson beat Kazuo Misaki by unanimous verdict after hurting Misaki with strikes many times. Henderson then entered the second ever Pride 185 pound grand prix, where he was shocked in a rematch by Misaki, by very close but a suitable unanimous verdict.
Dan Henderson today cross-trains in Boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
By Sherdog.com Staff
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