He debuted in the PFC at PRIDE 12 against Wanderlei Silva. Dan battled Wanderlei from bell to bell in a war and gave Silva everything he could handle, but lost a decision. He returned to PRIDE 13 and did what no one had done before: knockout a Gracie. The knockout of Renzo Gracie was also the first of Henderson’s career. At PRIDE 14 Dan pulled off another first by stopping Akira Shoji and at PRIDE 17 he redeemed himself for the loss to Silva, beating Chute Boxe fighter Murilo Rua by decision. A bout with Ricardo Arona at PRIDE 20 saw Dan lose for only the second time.
A significantly larger Rodrigo Nogueira beat Henderson in their PRIDE 24 rematch, but it took “Minotauro” three rounds to submit the wrestler. Henderson followed his only back-to-back losses in his MMA career with back-to-back KO victories. In PRIDE 25, Shungo Oyama came to trade with Henderson but found himself on the losing end of the final exchange. Then at the 2003 PRIDE Final Conflict show, Henderson dropped Murilo Bustamante after a controversial and unintentional head butt. At PRIDE 28, Dan was able to throw Kazuhiro Nakamura awkwardly and he sustained an injury early in that bout and then last New Year’s Eve Dan took a decision over light heavyweight King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo.
NOGUEIRA: Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Rogerio Nogueira trains with Ricardo Arona, Murilo Bustamante, his brother Rodrigo Nogueira and the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. He works BJJ with Luis Roberto Duarte and does conditioning with Paulo Caruso and has returned to doing wrestling with Darrel Gholar. “Minotoro” is 10-1 in MMA and is making his 7th appearance (6-0) in the PFC.
Rogerio had a successful pro MMA debut at the DEEP 2001: Heatwave show against UFC Japan veteran Katsuhisa Fuji, stopping Fuji with strikes in less than four minutes. He traveled to the U.S. to face Midwest veteran Jim Theobald at HOOKnSHOOT: Overdrive and armbarred him in under five minutes. Yusuke Imamura from Takada Dojo was heavily overmatched and though he had fought twice before going 1-1, his “win” was over the colorful MMA oddity Joe Son. Rogerio disposed of him quickly via guillotine choke and prepared to face opponents who would more seriously test his training.
Nogueira battled Vladimir Matyushenko at the inaugural UFO show but he allowed himself to get involved in stand-up exchanges that worked in the favor of the Russian wrestler. Matyushenko took Nogueira out of his element and walked away with the victory. Just a month later, Nogueira was back in the ring with UFC and PRIDE veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Nogueira punished Kohsaka on the feet and though it went the distance, “Minotoro” showed he had adapted.
Next Nogueira battled Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. Rodrigo continued to show good stand-up skills in some entertaining exchanges on the feet and fought a solid ground battle to earn the split decision. He defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura at PRIDE 25 via armbar and then looked the best we have ever seen at the PRIDE Shock Wave 2003 show against Kazushi Sakuraba. The sharp striking and accuracy of “Minotoro” gave Sakuraba everything he could handle and Nogueira took away a well-deserved decision. Nogueira beat Alex Stiebling by decision in the Gladiator FC event in Korea and defeated Nakamura for a second time in a rematch of their ’03 battle. In February at PRIDE 29, Nogueira battled Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem and took a decision but now both men are in the Middleweight GP.
MY PICK: Henderson. I’ve picked against Nogueira numerous times and been wrong. He’s very good as his record shows but I think Henderson will finally be the one to tame him. Since his debut in the PFC, five of Nogueira’s six wins have been by decision where Henderson has stopped three of his last four victims early in the first round. Dan’s wrestling appears to be BTT’s biggest concern as they are working hard to prepare “Minotoro” with Gholar, but Henderson’s hands are lethal as well. The last time Nogueira faced a wrestler who could strike, he suffered his only loss. I feel it will be Henderson by decision after the third round.