Dan Henderson
Jeffrey Daniel " Dan " Henderson ( born August 24, 1970 in Downey, California ) is a former American professional wrestler and current mixed martial arts fighter.
Henderson was born in Downey, California and attended high school in Victorville, where he belonged to the ring team. Later he studied at Arizona State University. In 1988 he was winner of the American Junior Championships in both the freestyle and Greco- Roman style. 1990 saw the title FILA Junior World Greco Roman champion. Among other titles, he took for the USA at the Olympic Summer Games in 1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta, where he tenth and twelfth was in Greco- Roman style.
In 1997, Henderson started with MMA. He had his first fights on June 15 at the Brazil Open Fight in Brazil, where he defeated his opponent by technical knockout Crezio de Souza and Eric Smith and won the tournament. Then he went into the Ultimate Fighting Championship and defeated on 15 May 1998 at UFC 17: Redemption Allan Goes and Carlos Newton, which he was Champion Middleweight Tournament. In 1999 he moved to the Japanese organizers ring and defeated in two events five opponents, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. On 9 December 2000, he suffered his first defeat against Wanderlei Silva at Pride event Cold Fury in Saitama. In the next fight, on 25 March 2001, he won against Renzo Gracie via KO. Henderson remained until 2007 for another 16 fights in Pride and lost in this time twice against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but defeated in his last fight in Pride, on February 24, 2007 in Las Vegas, Wanderlei Silva by KO and Pride Middleweight Champion was.
Then Henderson returned to the UFC and lost at UFC 75: Champion vs.. Champion on 8 September 2007 in London's O2 arena against Quinton Jackson. In his next fight at UFC 82 on 1 March 2008 in Columbus against Anderson Silva, he had to give up in the second round, lying in a rear naked choke. At UFC 88, 6 September 2008, he defeated Rousimar Palhares on victories followed against Rich Franklin in the main event of UFC 93: Franklin vs.. Henderson on January 17, 2009 in Dublin, and against Michael Bisping via KO at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas.
His next fight denied Henderson for Strikeforce, where he lost to Jake Shields on April 17, 2010. This was followed by victories in December against Renato Sobral and 5 March 2011 against Rafael Cavalcante. At this time, his MMA competition balance 27 wins and eight defeats. On April 30, 2011 Henderson defeated the legendary Fedor Emelianenko by TKO in the first round. Then left Henderson Strikeforce and signed a new contract with the UFC. On November 19, 2011 Henderson met the ex - UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua. After a 5 round battle that most MMA fans recognize as one of the best fights of all time, Henderson Rua defeated on points.
Henderson lives with his wife Allison and his children in Temecula. His nicknames are Hollywood, Dangerous Dan, and Hendo.