6. Dan Henderson
Henderson’s ranking from panelists is all over the place. One had him as high as No. 2, another as low as 10. Mine was in the middle, but I perfectly understand the dilemma, as he put together perhaps the strangest, most perplexing and unique career in the history of MMA. On the one hand, Henderson holds knockout victories over Fedor Emelianenko (the greatest heavyweight of all-time), Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua (two of the five greatest light heavyweights of all-time) and all-time great middleweights in Murilo Bustamente and Michael Bisping. He also holds decision wins over Rua, Rich Franklin, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (one of the five greatest heavyweights of all-time). Utterly amazing, right?
That is where it becomes complicated. Henderson won a robbery in Pride Fighting Championships against Murilo Rua and at least an undeserved decision against Bustamante. Worse, he was utterly dominated by Ricardo Arona and a welterweight Jake Shields and got knocked out in 70 seconds by both Belfort in their rematch and Gegard Mousasi. All it comes down to Henderson’s unique style. Despite being an Olympic wrestler, he rarely used that skill to win fights and could be taken down and controlled himself. Instead, he relied on his boxing, predicated on one of the most devastating right crosses in MMA history and an iron chin. Either Henderson caught his opponent and it was spectacular, or he did not, and it was disappointing. Considering the slew of legends he defeated, on any given night for many years, Henderson was one of the best middleweights in the world and a danger to anyone at any weight.
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