This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Dan Henderson Turns 44

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A two-time Olympian and former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder, Dan Henderson will celebrate his 44th birthday on Aug. 24.

Henderson wrestled collegiately at Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State University before representing the United States in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A Downey, Calif., native, he transitioned to mixed martial arts in June 1997 and has since pieced together one of the sport’s most enduring resumes. Henderson owns a 23-12 combined record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Strikeforce and Pride, including victories over Mauricio Rua (twice), Murilo Bustamante (twice), Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin and Michael Bisping. The Team Quest co-founder has secured 14 of his 30 career victories by knockout or technical knockout, largely on the strength of his crippling right hand.

While he has aged well in a young man’s sport, Henderson has lost four of his past five bouts. He last competed at UFC 173 in May, when he was choked unconscious by the unbeaten Daniel Cormier at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of August:

AUG. 1

Gegard Mousasi (29)

AUG. 2

Krzysztof Soszynski (37)
Jeff Hougland (36)
John Kelly (36)
Ivan Musardo (34)
Aleksander Emelianenko (33)
Nick Diaz (31)
Zak Cummings (30)

AUG. 3

Eric Esch (48)
Johnny Eduardo (36)
Carey Vanier (33)
Aleksandar Radosavljevic (31)
Neil Magny (27)

AUG. 4

Duane Ludwig (36)
Mitsuhisa Sunabe (35)
Iuri Alcantara (34)
Bernardo Magalhaes (33)
Joe Duarte (31)
Mike King (31)
Bryan Caraway (30)
Jared Rosholt (28)
Paul Sass (26)

AUG. 5

Sean Sherk (41)
Dustin Pague (27)
Mladen Kujundzic (25)
Aaron Phillips (25)

AUG. 6

Sean Gray (41)
Igor Vovchanchyn (41)
Patrick Mikesz (40)
Tracy Hess (37)
Minoru Takeuchi (29)

AUG. 7

Edwin Dewees (32)
Henry Martinez (31)
Martin Begley (29)

AUG. 8

Yusuke Imamura (38)
Shayna Baszler (34)
Ivan Zagubinoga (30)
Mairbek Taisumov (26)

AUG. 9

Kerry Schall (43)
Kyle Watson (35)
C.J. Keith (28)

AUG. 10

Kevin Randleman (43)
C.B. Dollaway (31)
Joe Proctor (29)

AUG. 11

Joe Rogan (47)

AUG. 13

Carlson Gracie Sr. (1933-2006)
Solomon Hutcherson (42)
Nik Lentz (30)
Jonathan Brookins (29)
Demetrious Johnson (28)
Ronys Torres (28)

AUG. 14

Ryan Gracie (1974-2007)
Ricardo Funch (34)
Brylan Van Artsdalen (30)
Mark Holst (29)
Colton Smith (27)

AUG. 15

Katsuhisa Fujii (42)
Moyses Gabin (34)
Andy Enz (23)

AUG. 16

Rulon Gardner (43)
Hiroya Takada (37)

AUG. 17

Masaaki Satake (49)
Carlos Newton (38)
Valentijn Overeem (38)
Leslie Smith (32)
Luiz Philipe Lins (29)

AUG. 18

Chris Lytle (40)
Chad Robichaux (39)
Sergei Kharitonov (34)
Geronimo dos Santos (34)
Sachiko Yamamoto (34)
Guy Delumeau (33)
Miesha Tate (29)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (27)
Sergio Pettis (21)

AUG. 19

Ricco Rodriguez (37)
Kyle Bradley (32)
Stipe Miocic (32)
Poppies Martinez (31)
Krzysztof Jotko (25)
Mizuki Inoue (20)

AUG. 20

Tom Speer (30)

AUG. 21

Alex Reid (39)
Daniel Sarafian (32)
Zachary Micklewright (28)
Shoko Sato (27)

AUG. 22

Hideo Tokoro (37)
Justin Buchholz (31)
Niklas Backstrom (25)

AUG. 23

Brock Larson (37)
Thomas Vasquez (28)
Andrey Koreshkov (24)

AUG. 24

James Toney (46)
Dan Henderson (44)
Trevor Prangley (42)
Dong Sik Yoon (42)
Marcus Davis (41)
Hayato Sakurai (39)
Jake Heun (27)

AUG. 25

Jeremy Horn (39)
Danny Castillo (35)
Mark Holata (32)
Piotr Hallmann (27)

AUG. 26

Erik Apple (37)
Lance Benoist (26)

AUG. 27

Hermes Franca (40)
Francisco Trinaldo (36)
Amir Sadollah (34)
Lew Polley (33)
Ryan Couture (32)
Shahbulat Shamhalaev (31)
Manny Lara (27)

AUG. 28

Deividas Taurosevicius (37)
Anthony Ferguson (34)
Karo Parisyan (32)
Louis Gaudinot (30)
Rick Story (30)
Jon Tuck (30)

AUG. 29

George Kleber (37)
Gabe Ruediger (37)
Kelly Anundson (30)

AUG. 30

Eric Prindle (38)
Neil Seery (35)
Cole Escovedo (33)
Matt Jones (32)
Joe Brammer (31)
Jim Miller (31)

AUG. 31

Ido Pariente (36)
Pat Curran (27)