Only for a Showdown with Silva
Joe Hall Feb 27, 2008
Dan Henderson (Pictures) didn't want to drop to 185.
But Dana White kept calling. You're too small for the 205-pound class, the UFC president told Henderson. Go down to middleweight.
Henderson wasn't having it. He had spent the heart of his career
competing at about 200 pounds and owned a 22-6 record that couldn't
be described as anything less than successful. Very successful, in
fact, considering how many times he was undersized and up against a
quality light heavyweight.
His résumé includes encounters with Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Wanderlei Silva (Pictures), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and Murilo Rua (Pictures). Minus Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and Tito Ortiz (Pictures), those were the names shoving each other around the light heavyweight top 10 a few years ago.
Throw in a pair of competitive bouts against current UFC heavyweight king Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), and you have a guy who perhaps justly decided he was fine fighting at any weight he wanted.
"I think I was being a little bit stubborn," Henderson says of his refusal to cut to the UFC's 185-pound division. "I still had some things I wanted to do at 205."
Like make another run at light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson (Pictures), who edged out Henderson on points in their gritty September 2007 bout.
A month after that fight, though, and down at 185, middleweight champion Anderson Silva ran through Rich Franklin (Pictures) a second time. With the win, the 32-year-old striking specialist had essentially waxed the weight class clean of worthy in-house challengers.
White came calling again.
The offer was Silva and a shot at his title. For any other middleweight, Henderson would have declined. For Silva, he said yes.
"There's not really anyone else down there that would be a good challenge for me other than Anderson Silva," Henderson says.
Around the time Henderson accepted the fight, Silva was settling into his current stature as the widely recognized No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Whether he belongs at the pinnacle of such lists is open to debate, though few would argue against his right to be ranked as the elite middleweight.
The Brazilian has brutalized the division. While Henderson vacationed in the weight class only long enough to capture Pride's equivalent title and then head back to 205, Silva was building a daunting body of work. He used a standing back-elbow strike to knock Tony Fryklund (Pictures) senseless, knees to lay out Chris Leben (Pictures), punches on the ground to put away Nathan Marquardt (Pictures), more knees to knock Rich Franklin (Pictures)'s nose crooked and so on.
Henderson was watching. He speaks highly of Silva's skills, but he does not think they make him the top fighter on the planet.
In Henderson's view, the UFC middleweight titleholder has matched up almost perfectly with his Octagon opponents. Franklin, for instance, couldn't strike with Silva and couldn't take him down either. The result was domination to a stunning degree. At least the first meeting was stunning, when Silva caught Franklin's neck in a Thai clinch and simply beat on him until he dropped.
"I absolutely don't see that happening with Dan," says Matt Lindland (Pictures), Henderson's longtime friend and teammate, on the likelihood that Silva will control the clinch Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, at UFC 82. "If Anderson wants to get in the clinch game, I think Dan's going to dominate in there. [Henderson] knows how to maneuver inside the clinch and in close range. I think between Dan and Randy [Couture] and myself, when we came in the sport, I think we really pioneered that clinch-fighting style."
The trio entered MMA straight out of Olympic-level Greco-Roman wrestling, which focuses on above-the-waist grappling. In the transition to MMA, they expanded their clinch games to include dirty boxing and other techniques.
Of course, the most telling example of how the Greco clinch can be adapted to MMA may have come 10 years ago, when Couture held Vitor Belfort (Pictures) by the back of his neck and battered him all over the Octagon.
The position has only evolved since then, which is another reason why Henderson struggles with where to start when asked what Franklin was doing wrong in the clinch against Silva: "Oh, it's, you know. It'd take me a while to … "
After a somewhat exasperated laugh, Henderson settles on saying Franklin allowed Silva to control the position.
"You can't do that," Henderson says. "You can't relax in there with a guy like that. You can't let him have the position. That's the bottom line. When you allow that, you can't stay there."
Especially since that first Franklin fight, Silva's opponents have wanted nothing less than to feel his hands locked behind their necks. But Henderson, a two-time Olympian wrestler who owns an MMA clothing company called "Clinch Gear," says he'd like to tie up with Silva.
"I've got no problems being anywhere with him," Henderson says. "Out in the open striking, in the clinch, on the ground."
Silva's arsenal outside the clinch is pretty stellar too. Henderson admits as much, describing his upcoming opponent as "probably" the most dangerous striker he's faced, more dangerous than even Wanderlei Silva (Pictures).
"I'm going to stand and swing with him anyway," Henderson says after complimenting Anderson's accuracy and timing on the feet. "I feel like I have more power than him. I'm definitely going to be trying to test his chin. I think that's been part of the problem -- a lot of guys are a little bit nervous standing up with him and go in there not knowing exactly what to do."
Henderson has a plan. Despite his willingness to trade, his strategy centers on what he sees as the neutralizing factor in the fight: his wrestling.
"It gives me the option to fight standing or take it to the ground or get in the clinch," Henderson says. "It gives me the ability to control the fight."
For that reason, Henderson says he presents a challenge others did not. Silva's recent opposition could not take him out of his element for long. Henderson believes he can. He believes the key is not to try to trap Silva on the floor the entire fight but rather to keep him guessing. To keep him worrying about takedowns until he loses his rhythm on the feet, to keep him considering Henderson's hands until he forgets about Henderson's takedowns.
With that strategy in mind, Lindland expects a genuine MMA bout, one involving all facets of the game.
"I don't think Dan's as accurate or as quick with his striking, but he's certainly got a lot more power than Anderson," Lindland says. "Anderson is very good at what he does, but I think Dan is very dangerous because he can knock a guy out with one punch. And he can lock you inside that clinch and he can put Anderson on his back and finish the fight from the top position."
Lindland doesn't foresee Silva stopping Henderson's takedowns either.
"I would think a two-time Olympian could take down a guy who's never wrestled that well," he says. "Yep."
Yet Silva has a ground game. From his back he finished Travis Lutter (Pictures), a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Henderson has seen the fight. He acknowledges that Silva is dangerous on the mat, too, but believes he can punish him there even without passing to a superior position.
"I can hurt him in the guard," Henderson says. "I can definitely hurt him in the guard."
He's certain he can hurt Silva anywhere. Regardless of whether that's true, Silva hasn't fought anyone lately with Henderson's confidence. The 37-year-old Californian, who's fought for nearly 11 years, will not be overwhelmed before the opening bell. His performance will not suffer behind the apparent suspicion that he's overmatched, which breeds the kind of tentativeness that Silva devours.
In short, Henderson will not be scared, if for no other reason than because he's walked into at least a half-dozen similar challenges, most of which took place in a heavier division.
The fact that Henderson is venturing to 185 for this particular test is the ultimate compliment to Silva. In the Brazilian he sees the one worthy competitor in the weight class. But he also sees an opponent he believes he will beat.
Certainly Silva is confident in his own right. After all, it was his domination of the division that convinced Henderson to tell Dana White he'd do it, that he'd cut a few pounds and make possible the most significant middleweight matchup in mixed martial arts' short history.
But Dana White kept calling. You're too small for the 205-pound class, the UFC president told Henderson. Go down to middleweight.
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His résumé includes encounters with Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Wanderlei Silva (Pictures), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and Murilo Rua (Pictures). Minus Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and Tito Ortiz (Pictures), those were the names shoving each other around the light heavyweight top 10 a few years ago.
Henderson was right there with them. He was the only one, however,
who could scroll down a division and find his name there, too, and
often at the top.
Throw in a pair of competitive bouts against current UFC heavyweight king Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), and you have a guy who perhaps justly decided he was fine fighting at any weight he wanted.
"I think I was being a little bit stubborn," Henderson says of his refusal to cut to the UFC's 185-pound division. "I still had some things I wanted to do at 205."
Like make another run at light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson (Pictures), who edged out Henderson on points in their gritty September 2007 bout.
A month after that fight, though, and down at 185, middleweight champion Anderson Silva ran through Rich Franklin (Pictures) a second time. With the win, the 32-year-old striking specialist had essentially waxed the weight class clean of worthy in-house challengers.
White came calling again.
The offer was Silva and a shot at his title. For any other middleweight, Henderson would have declined. For Silva, he said yes.
"There's not really anyone else down there that would be a good challenge for me other than Anderson Silva," Henderson says.
Around the time Henderson accepted the fight, Silva was settling into his current stature as the widely recognized No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Whether he belongs at the pinnacle of such lists is open to debate, though few would argue against his right to be ranked as the elite middleweight.
The Brazilian has brutalized the division. While Henderson vacationed in the weight class only long enough to capture Pride's equivalent title and then head back to 205, Silva was building a daunting body of work. He used a standing back-elbow strike to knock Tony Fryklund (Pictures) senseless, knees to lay out Chris Leben (Pictures), punches on the ground to put away Nathan Marquardt (Pictures), more knees to knock Rich Franklin (Pictures)'s nose crooked and so on.
Henderson was watching. He speaks highly of Silva's skills, but he does not think they make him the top fighter on the planet.
In Henderson's view, the UFC middleweight titleholder has matched up almost perfectly with his Octagon opponents. Franklin, for instance, couldn't strike with Silva and couldn't take him down either. The result was domination to a stunning degree. At least the first meeting was stunning, when Silva caught Franklin's neck in a Thai clinch and simply beat on him until he dropped.
"I absolutely don't see that happening with Dan," says Matt Lindland (Pictures), Henderson's longtime friend and teammate, on the likelihood that Silva will control the clinch Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, at UFC 82. "If Anderson wants to get in the clinch game, I think Dan's going to dominate in there. [Henderson] knows how to maneuver inside the clinch and in close range. I think between Dan and Randy [Couture] and myself, when we came in the sport, I think we really pioneered that clinch-fighting style."
The trio entered MMA straight out of Olympic-level Greco-Roman wrestling, which focuses on above-the-waist grappling. In the transition to MMA, they expanded their clinch games to include dirty boxing and other techniques.
Of course, the most telling example of how the Greco clinch can be adapted to MMA may have come 10 years ago, when Couture held Vitor Belfort (Pictures) by the back of his neck and battered him all over the Octagon.
The position has only evolved since then, which is another reason why Henderson struggles with where to start when asked what Franklin was doing wrong in the clinch against Silva: "Oh, it's, you know. It'd take me a while to … "
After a somewhat exasperated laugh, Henderson settles on saying Franklin allowed Silva to control the position.
"You can't do that," Henderson says. "You can't relax in there with a guy like that. You can't let him have the position. That's the bottom line. When you allow that, you can't stay there."
Especially since that first Franklin fight, Silva's opponents have wanted nothing less than to feel his hands locked behind their necks. But Henderson, a two-time Olympian wrestler who owns an MMA clothing company called "Clinch Gear," says he'd like to tie up with Silva.
"I've got no problems being anywhere with him," Henderson says. "Out in the open striking, in the clinch, on the ground."
Silva's arsenal outside the clinch is pretty stellar too. Henderson admits as much, describing his upcoming opponent as "probably" the most dangerous striker he's faced, more dangerous than even Wanderlei Silva (Pictures).
"I'm going to stand and swing with him anyway," Henderson says after complimenting Anderson's accuracy and timing on the feet. "I feel like I have more power than him. I'm definitely going to be trying to test his chin. I think that's been part of the problem -- a lot of guys are a little bit nervous standing up with him and go in there not knowing exactly what to do."
Henderson has a plan. Despite his willingness to trade, his strategy centers on what he sees as the neutralizing factor in the fight: his wrestling.
"It gives me the option to fight standing or take it to the ground or get in the clinch," Henderson says. "It gives me the ability to control the fight."
For that reason, Henderson says he presents a challenge others did not. Silva's recent opposition could not take him out of his element for long. Henderson believes he can. He believes the key is not to try to trap Silva on the floor the entire fight but rather to keep him guessing. To keep him worrying about takedowns until he loses his rhythm on the feet, to keep him considering Henderson's hands until he forgets about Henderson's takedowns.
With that strategy in mind, Lindland expects a genuine MMA bout, one involving all facets of the game.
"I don't think Dan's as accurate or as quick with his striking, but he's certainly got a lot more power than Anderson," Lindland says. "Anderson is very good at what he does, but I think Dan is very dangerous because he can knock a guy out with one punch. And he can lock you inside that clinch and he can put Anderson on his back and finish the fight from the top position."
Lindland doesn't foresee Silva stopping Henderson's takedowns either.
"I would think a two-time Olympian could take down a guy who's never wrestled that well," he says. "Yep."
Yet Silva has a ground game. From his back he finished Travis Lutter (Pictures), a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Henderson has seen the fight. He acknowledges that Silva is dangerous on the mat, too, but believes he can punish him there even without passing to a superior position.
"I can hurt him in the guard," Henderson says. "I can definitely hurt him in the guard."
He's certain he can hurt Silva anywhere. Regardless of whether that's true, Silva hasn't fought anyone lately with Henderson's confidence. The 37-year-old Californian, who's fought for nearly 11 years, will not be overwhelmed before the opening bell. His performance will not suffer behind the apparent suspicion that he's overmatched, which breeds the kind of tentativeness that Silva devours.
In short, Henderson will not be scared, if for no other reason than because he's walked into at least a half-dozen similar challenges, most of which took place in a heavier division.
The fact that Henderson is venturing to 185 for this particular test is the ultimate compliment to Silva. In the Brazilian he sees the one worthy competitor in the weight class. But he also sees an opponent he believes he will beat.
Certainly Silva is confident in his own right. After all, it was his domination of the division that convinced Henderson to tell Dana White he'd do it, that he'd cut a few pounds and make possible the most significant middleweight matchup in mixed martial arts' short history.
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