Nickname: Hollywood

Dan "Hollywood" Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is a former Olympic wrestler and current American mixed martial artist and was the last welterweight (183 lb) and middleweight (205 lb) champion of the PRIDE Fighting Championships. He is the only mixed martial artist to concurrently hold two titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA promotion. He holds notable victories over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, Renzo Gracie, Kazuo Misaki, Renato Sobral, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Rua and Carlos Newton, and currently competes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Biography

Henderson is originally from Apple Valley, California and went to Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, where he twice earned medals at the California State Wrestling Chamionships. He went on to wrestle at Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State University, participating in the 1993 NCAA championships. After completing his collegiate eligibility, he moved to the international circuit, competing for the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco Roman wrestling.

He began training in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Real American Wrestling team (RAW). In his first year of MMA competition, Henderson won the Brazil Open, a four-man heavyweight tournament. Just one year later, he won the UFC 17 tournament, defeating Allan Goes and Carlos Newton. In his next MMA foray, Henderson defeated five opponents over the course of two events to claim the 1999 RINGS King of Kings title. He won two fights on October 28, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan, to qualify for the finals, and then beat Gilbert Yvel, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato "Babulu" Sobral on the evening of February 26, 2000, to win the tournament.

Henderson later found a home with the PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing primarily in the middleweight (205 lbs.) and heavyweight divisions. In PRIDE, Henderson competed against many of the sports elite fighters including Wanderlei Silva, Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Rua, Murilo Bustamante, Yuki Kondo, Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono.

When PRIDE began its Bushido brand, Henderson won their first welterweight (183 lb) tournament, defeating Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono by knockout, and then defeating Bustamante by split decision in the finals to capture the welterweight title. At PRIDE Bushido 10, Henderson defeated Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision after hurting him with strikes on numerous occasions. Henderson later entered the second PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix, losing by decision in a rematch with Misaki.

Henderson's final PRIDE bout was a rematch with Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas on February 24, 2007, where he scored a knockout victory to become middleweight champion, while still holding his welterweight title. Henderson is the first fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two different weight classes in a major organization.[2]

On September 8, 2007, Henderson returned to the UFC to face light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 75 in London, England, losing by unanimous decision after five rounds.

On November 17, 2007, it was announced during the post fight at UFC 78, Henderson would fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva to unify the PRIDE welterweight (183 lbs.) and UFC middleweight (185 lbs.) championships. UFC 82 took take place on March 1, 2008 and was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Silva defeated Henderson via submission at 4:52 of the second round due to a rear naked choke. His next fight will be at UFC 88 against Rousimar Palhares.

Personal life

Dan Henderson is part English, French and Native American [3]. He grew up on a ranch in Apple Valley California. He started wrestling at a young age and started being noticed as a relentless competitor. His close friends growing up were Blair Green, Rod (Bumper) Ludington, Ray Leonard, Greg (BO) Galvez, Charlie Irick and Bobby (Biff) Irick with whom he frequently managed to get in trouble. When he entered High School he placed on the wrestling team with his brother Tom at Victor Valley High, which was coached by their father Bill Henderson, Sam Gollmyer and Joe Barrios. Bill drove Dan to wrestling tournaments all over the west coast in a yellow van with more than 200,000 miles on it. Bill also recorded all of Dan's wrestling matches with a Betamax video camcorder strapped to a car battery.

Dan was also coached by Bob Anderson, of the California Jets (now a defunct organization). He placed second at the California State Wrestling Championship in 1987, and Victor Valley won the team title. In 1988, he placed fifth in the state finals and several months later won national crowns in both freestyle and Greco Roman at the Junior Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

He has three children with his wife Alison.[4][5] He now lives in Temecula, California[6] and is currently associated with Team Quest where he trains with fellow fighters Matt Lindland and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Henderson has also made guest appearances on television shows such as The King Of Queens,[7] Best Damn Sports Show Period and Rome is Burning.

According to the March 2007 Confederated Umatilla Journal: "Henderson’s grandmother, Alice (Bergevin) LeJune, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and owns land on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From all accounts, Henderson is 1/16 Walla Walla Native American."[8]

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