Just My Thoughts: Justified Decisions or Robberies?
Hendo’s decision
Mike Sloan Jan 10, 2006
Is the scrutiny over Dan
Henderson (Pictures)’s title win deserved?
The American almost knocked out Murilo Bustamante (Pictures). Almost. The Team Quest veteran staggered the Brazilian fighter early on but failed to finish him off. Henderson clearly showed up to fight and certainly was not outclassed by Bustamante by any means, but in my opinion, I felt as though Henderson received a gift-wrapped title courtesy of the three PRIDE judges.
Was the fight close? Of course it was. Did Henderson control the
pace of the fight from start to finish? Of course not. Did
Bustamante deserve the decision? In my opinion, yes he did.
As was the case with Silva-Arona, the rematch between Henderson and Bustamante was about as close as they come and the decision was sketchy but not a robbery. Most have staked a claim supporting either fighter, but unlike the Silva-Arona debates, the outcome of this battle seems to have a more one-sided discussion. In other words: many fans and media, it seems, feel that Bustamante should have gotten the nod over Hendo.
Henderson has been fighting outside of his natural weight class virtually his entire career in PRIDE and has probably suffered most of his losses due to that reason alone. PRIDE should have installed a welterweight division years ago. And who knows, we could have had a round-robin title-swapping parade between Sakuraba, Henderson and Bustamante for the past three or four years.
What’s too bad is the fact that the first ever welterweight title in PRIDE’s history was won under such scrutiny. Another sour aspect of Henderson’s victory is the fact that he has now won both of his fights against Bustamante and the idea of a third bout isn’t as alluring as it would be had Bustamante been crowned the king or won their first encounter.
Fellow American wrestler Frank Trigg (Pictures) was doing the commentary and even he felt Henderson didn’t win. One can argue the case that Henderson won a little more than half of the first round, but he appeared fatigued and his energy output shrunk. Bustamante was in superior condition compared to Henderson and he pretty much dominated the second round.
Aside from the scare that Bustamante survived in the opening stanza, I feel as though the Brazilian’s stand up was equal to Henderson’s and his ground attack was superior. All in all, Bustamante did more damage, dictated the flow of the fight and imposed his game plan better than Henderson.
Hopefully PRIDE will heed some of the debates that have been raging throughout the Internet and grant Bustamante the chance of redemption against Henderson. Besides, the rematch between these two men was hotly anticipated, more so on Bustamante’s part because he felt as though Hendo’s first win came solely because of a head butt. His plot of revenge was foiled, but it wasn’t due to a one-sided shellacking; it was thwarted by what many — myself included — believe to be poor ringside judging.
The American almost knocked out Murilo Bustamante (Pictures). Almost. The Team Quest veteran staggered the Brazilian fighter early on but failed to finish him off. Henderson clearly showed up to fight and certainly was not outclassed by Bustamante by any means, but in my opinion, I felt as though Henderson received a gift-wrapped title courtesy of the three PRIDE judges.
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As was the case with Silva-Arona, the rematch between Henderson and Bustamante was about as close as they come and the decision was sketchy but not a robbery. Most have staked a claim supporting either fighter, but unlike the Silva-Arona debates, the outcome of this battle seems to have a more one-sided discussion. In other words: many fans and media, it seems, feel that Bustamante should have gotten the nod over Hendo.
Watching Henderson win was a tad bittersweet for me because for
starters, I have interviewed the man several times and he is one of
the classiest gentlemen you can ever meet. It’s great to see
someone like Henderson win a title. But watching him walk away with
the coveted PRIDE welterweight strap after a performance in which I
thought he didn’t deserve to win put a damper on his triumph.
Henderson has been fighting outside of his natural weight class virtually his entire career in PRIDE and has probably suffered most of his losses due to that reason alone. PRIDE should have installed a welterweight division years ago. And who knows, we could have had a round-robin title-swapping parade between Sakuraba, Henderson and Bustamante for the past three or four years.
What’s too bad is the fact that the first ever welterweight title in PRIDE’s history was won under such scrutiny. Another sour aspect of Henderson’s victory is the fact that he has now won both of his fights against Bustamante and the idea of a third bout isn’t as alluring as it would be had Bustamante been crowned the king or won their first encounter.
Fellow American wrestler Frank Trigg (Pictures) was doing the commentary and even he felt Henderson didn’t win. One can argue the case that Henderson won a little more than half of the first round, but he appeared fatigued and his energy output shrunk. Bustamante was in superior condition compared to Henderson and he pretty much dominated the second round.
Aside from the scare that Bustamante survived in the opening stanza, I feel as though the Brazilian’s stand up was equal to Henderson’s and his ground attack was superior. All in all, Bustamante did more damage, dictated the flow of the fight and imposed his game plan better than Henderson.
Hopefully PRIDE will heed some of the debates that have been raging throughout the Internet and grant Bustamante the chance of redemption against Henderson. Besides, the rematch between these two men was hotly anticipated, more so on Bustamante’s part because he felt as though Hendo’s first win came solely because of a head butt. His plot of revenge was foiled, but it wasn’t due to a one-sided shellacking; it was thwarted by what many — myself included — believe to be poor ringside judging.
