Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE “Shockwave” ’05 Part II
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Dec 30, 2005
PRIDE Welterweight (183 lbs.) Grand Prix Finals
HENDERSON: Team Quest wrestler Dan Henderson (Pictures) is the 1999 RINGS King of Kings Tournament Champion, the UFC 17 four-man lightweight tournament champion and an Abu Dhabi veteran. He trains with former UFC light heavyweight champion Randy Couture (Pictures), Matt Lindland (Pictures), Chael Sonnen (Pictures), Nathan Quarry (Pictures) and the rest of Team Quest. Henderson is 18-4 in MMA and makes his 15th appearance (10-4) in the PFC.
Dan began his MMA career at the Brazil Open Fight in ’97 where he
beat Carlson Gracie Sr. fighter Crezio de Souza in the semis
and Hammer House wrestler Eric
Smith in the final.
He first gained attention winning the UFC 17 lightweight tournament as a member of the rAw Team and beat both Allan Goes and Carlos Newton (Pictures) by decision. Dan continued to pursue his first love, wrestling, for a year and a half until the RINGS King of Kings 1999 Open Weight Tournament. There he won a series of decisions over Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures), Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and Rodrigo Nogueira to get to the semis against Renato Sobral (Pictures), to win the first KoK tournament title.
A significantly larger Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) beat Henderson in their PRIDE 24 rematch, but it took “Minotauro” three rounds to submit the wrestler. Henderson followed the only back-to-back losses of his MMA career with back-to-back knockout victories. In PRIDE 25, Shungo Oyama (Pictures) came to trade with Henderson but found himself on the losing end of the final exchange.
Then at the 2003 “Final Conflict,” Henderson dropped Murilo Bustamante (Pictures) after a controversial and unintentional head butt. At PRIDE 28, Dan was able to throw Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) awkwardly and he sustained an injury early in that bout. At last New Year’s Eve “Shockwave,” Dan took a decision over light heavyweight King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo (Pictures).
Henderson battled the up and coming Rogerio Nogueira and wound up being submitted late in the first round. But as is Henderson’s way after a loss, he KO’d his next two opponents. It was the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix and Dan walked through Ryo Chonan (Pictures) in less than 30 seconds and then disposed of Akihiro Gono (Pictures) late in the first round.
BUSTAMANTE: Murilo Bustamante (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu national champion, Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and has some professional boxing experience.
The former UFC middleweight (185 pounds) champion (never dethroned) was the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Championships 88kg division tournament semi-finalist and he trains with former PFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures), Paulo Filho (Pictures) and the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. He sports a record of 12-4-1 in MMA and makes his seventh appearance (3-3) in the ring of the PFC.
Bustamante fought for a number of years in Brazil and competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments under the Carlson Gracie Team. He first fought Vale Tudo in 1991. He didn’t compete again until 1996 when he made it to the final of the M.A.R.S. tournament. There he beat Christopher Haseman in the quarterfinals, beat Juan Mott in the semifinals and fought Tom Erikson (Pictures) to a draw in the final.
After knocking out Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander with a kick from the mat in Brazil, he took a few years off from fighting and resurfaced in the UFC in 2000. He won a decision over Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) in Pancrase but it wasn’t until 2001 that he made his commitment to coming back to fighting full time.
Murilo lost a decision to current UFC champ Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and beat both Dave Menne (Pictures) (knocking him out) and Matt Lindland (Pictures) (submitting him) while owning the UFC middleweight title. He never lost the title but contract negotiations with the UFC fell through and Murilo was no longer considered their champion.
Bustamante had an inauspicious beginning to his PFC career, losing his first three bouts. Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) took decision wins over Murilo while a controversial KO from Dan Henderson (Pictures) was sandwiched in between. Bustamante got back on track at Bushido 6 with a decision win over Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures). The Bushido tournament was next and Murilo submitted Superbrawl champion Masanori Suda (Pictures) and KO’d Pancrase veteran Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) in the same evening.
MY PICK: Henderson. Both athletes have been on fire, especially in the tournament, but Henderson has been more dominant overall. Other than the losses to the Nogueira boys and his engine stalling in the bout with Kondo, Dan has been coasting through the competition. This should be a great fight and it will not be over early. Bustamante earned his spot in the final. I just think Henderson can deal with premiere grapplers his own size and he’ll handle Murilo. I feel it will be Henderson by TKO in the second round.
HENDERSON: Team Quest wrestler Dan Henderson (Pictures) is the 1999 RINGS King of Kings Tournament Champion, the UFC 17 four-man lightweight tournament champion and an Abu Dhabi veteran. He trains with former UFC light heavyweight champion Randy Couture (Pictures), Matt Lindland (Pictures), Chael Sonnen (Pictures), Nathan Quarry (Pictures) and the rest of Team Quest. Henderson is 18-4 in MMA and makes his 15th appearance (10-4) in the PFC.
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He first gained attention winning the UFC 17 lightweight tournament as a member of the rAw Team and beat both Allan Goes and Carlos Newton (Pictures) by decision. Dan continued to pursue his first love, wrestling, for a year and a half until the RINGS King of Kings 1999 Open Weight Tournament. There he won a series of decisions over Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures), Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and Rodrigo Nogueira to get to the semis against Renato Sobral (Pictures), to win the first KoK tournament title.
He debuted in the PFC at against Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). Dan battled Wanderlei from bell
to bell in a war and gave Silva everything he could handle. But he
lost via decision. He returned to PRIDE 13 and did what no one had
done before: knocked out a Gracie. The knockout of Renzo Gracie (Pictures) was also the first of Henderson’s
career. At PRIDE 14 Dan pulled off another first by stopping
Akira Shoji (Pictures) and at PRIDE 17 he redeemed
himself for the loss to Silva, beating Chute Boxe fighter Murilo Rua (Pictures) by decision. A bout with Ricardo Arona (Pictures) at PRIDE 20 saw Dan lose for only
the second time in his career.
A significantly larger Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) beat Henderson in their PRIDE 24 rematch, but it took “Minotauro” three rounds to submit the wrestler. Henderson followed the only back-to-back losses of his MMA career with back-to-back knockout victories. In PRIDE 25, Shungo Oyama (Pictures) came to trade with Henderson but found himself on the losing end of the final exchange.
Then at the 2003 “Final Conflict,” Henderson dropped Murilo Bustamante (Pictures) after a controversial and unintentional head butt. At PRIDE 28, Dan was able to throw Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) awkwardly and he sustained an injury early in that bout. At last New Year’s Eve “Shockwave,” Dan took a decision over light heavyweight King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo (Pictures).
Henderson battled the up and coming Rogerio Nogueira and wound up being submitted late in the first round. But as is Henderson’s way after a loss, he KO’d his next two opponents. It was the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix and Dan walked through Ryo Chonan (Pictures) in less than 30 seconds and then disposed of Akihiro Gono (Pictures) late in the first round.
BUSTAMANTE: Murilo Bustamante (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu national champion, Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and has some professional boxing experience.
The former UFC middleweight (185 pounds) champion (never dethroned) was the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Championships 88kg division tournament semi-finalist and he trains with former PFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures), Paulo Filho (Pictures) and the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. He sports a record of 12-4-1 in MMA and makes his seventh appearance (3-3) in the ring of the PFC.
Bustamante fought for a number of years in Brazil and competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments under the Carlson Gracie Team. He first fought Vale Tudo in 1991. He didn’t compete again until 1996 when he made it to the final of the M.A.R.S. tournament. There he beat Christopher Haseman in the quarterfinals, beat Juan Mott in the semifinals and fought Tom Erikson (Pictures) to a draw in the final.
After knocking out Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander with a kick from the mat in Brazil, he took a few years off from fighting and resurfaced in the UFC in 2000. He won a decision over Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) in Pancrase but it wasn’t until 2001 that he made his commitment to coming back to fighting full time.
Murilo lost a decision to current UFC champ Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and beat both Dave Menne (Pictures) (knocking him out) and Matt Lindland (Pictures) (submitting him) while owning the UFC middleweight title. He never lost the title but contract negotiations with the UFC fell through and Murilo was no longer considered their champion.
Bustamante had an inauspicious beginning to his PFC career, losing his first three bouts. Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) took decision wins over Murilo while a controversial KO from Dan Henderson (Pictures) was sandwiched in between. Bustamante got back on track at Bushido 6 with a decision win over Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures). The Bushido tournament was next and Murilo submitted Superbrawl champion Masanori Suda (Pictures) and KO’d Pancrase veteran Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) in the same evening.
MY PICK: Henderson. Both athletes have been on fire, especially in the tournament, but Henderson has been more dominant overall. Other than the losses to the Nogueira boys and his engine stalling in the bout with Kondo, Dan has been coasting through the competition. This should be a great fight and it will not be over early. Bustamante earned his spot in the final. I just think Henderson can deal with premiere grapplers his own size and he’ll handle Murilo. I feel it will be Henderson by TKO in the second round.
