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Quote of the Day – Dan Henderson
By Zach Arnold | January 7, 2008
Steve Sievert recently talked to Dan Henderson about his upcoming fight with Anderson Silva:
“My strength is the clinch game, and I don’t get out of position there to allow strikes,” said Henderson (22-5), who’s never been knocked out in his 10-year career. “That’s what he (Anderson Silva) thrives on, guys that are out of position and not very good in that clinch. For me, that’s where I’m going to beat him up, and if he gets there with me, I’m going to be taking him down and beating him up on the ground.”
Topics: Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I’m with Hendo on this one. I think he takes A. Silva relatively easily.
I don’t think Hendo’s clinch game is too much stronger than Silva’s. Silva is deceptively strong in the clinch, so even if Hendo were able to hold him down, Silva should be able to scramble, back off, and land some strikes.
Silva and Hendo’s clinch games are totally different in what they intend to do. Silva’s is offensive. Hendo uses it for control and to set up takedowns. Given Henderson’s pedigree as a wrestler, I’m taking him to be able to dominate Silva (for whom wrestling is his admitted weak point).
It’s not really about intention in the clinch, I think, but about who gets the best out of it. Silva’s offensive clinch game won’t be of much use on a fresh Hendo, who like you said has excellent wrestling credentials and is unlikely to get outmuscled by Silva. But I do believe he is strong enough NOT to get tossed around, which, like you said, is what Hendo fully intends to do.
If he can avoid playing to Hendo’s strength, which is the obvious strategy, and one I think he’ll usefully employ, he can stay outside the pocket and pick Hendo apart a la the second Misaki fight.
In any case, I wish that fight were tomorrow.
If Henderson comes in with a good plan — in other words, the total opposite of the gameplan he used for Misaki, or “stand and bang” — there is no way he is losing this fight.
Take down, gnp, avoid submissions. Easy win.
Lest we forget that Rich Franklin said something very similar to this…and all he got were two broken noses?
Lest we forget that Rich Franklin was also not an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler?
Neither was Misaki.
Did Henderson even attempt a single takedown against Misaki in either fight? I doubt Henderson will be so stupid as to fight the same way against Silva.
Henderson is getting knocked out. I know he has a great chin, but he believes in his striking too much and Silva’s is just on another level completely. Dan’s belief in himself is going to lead him to be stupid and attempt to trade with Silva, and he is going to pay. I don’t think Henderson can finish Silva; correction, I know Henderson can’t finish Silva. On the ground I don’t think Dan really has an advantage considering how good Silva has gotten, and over 5 rounds, Henderson is going to be in some situations in which he will find himself at the end of one of Anderson’s limbs, and then he will fall down, Silva will pounce, and the ref will stop it.
With his freakish strength and titanium grip, Hendo will thrive in the clinch. Worst possible strategy is exchanging from distance, a game he foolishly played with the deceptively fast Misaki twice, and got burned once. Hendo will not repeat this mistake.
The longer the fight goes, the better Silva’s chances are to score a stoppage against Henderson, IMO. Henderson’s stamina has been pretty hit and miss and if he burns himself out early on, he could end up getting a (T)KO stoppage against him later in the fight. If Henderson conserves energy and plays a smart strategy, though, he can score a pretty clear decision or even a stoppage of his own against Silva. It all depends on how he intends to approach the fight and how well he can implement the gameplan, really.
It’s a toss-up fight, IMO.
It should be interesting. I think that Dan is underestimating Silva’s ground game and improving BJJ skills.
As far as the clinch goes, Hendo would be foolish to fight in the clinch. I see Silva peppering his ribs with knees. If that goes for a round or two, Hendo’s gas tank will empty.
I think either guy could win, but I don’t see this as an easy fight regardless of who wins.
I also think that not having Tompkins could really hurt. Tompkins played a very large role in Dan’s wins over Silva and Belfort, and had a hand of Soko’s emergance as a LHW force to be reconded with.
We saw how Soko and Soa performed at 79.