Silva and Henderson: A Great Rivalry

It’s hard to internalize the idea that Anderson Silva (24-4 MMA, 9-0 UFC, #1 IWMMAR) has any rivals at all. I mean, this is a fighter who has thoroughly and decisively beaten everyone he stepped in the cage with.

Even Patrick Cote (14-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC), the one fighter to go down in an even mildly controversial fashion, isn’t anything close to a peer for Silva.

So when I say that Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson are rivals, it’s important to understand that there are a handful of reasons why it should be considered a rivalry, and not just that Dan Henderson (25-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC, #5/#8 IWMMAR) is among the top contenders for Silva’s middleweight strap.

It’s also that Silva, unarguably the best middleweight in the world, is encroaching on what has always been the greatest mark of respect for Henderson: being a top ten warrior in two divisions.

As Anderson looks to step in against former UFC lightheavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC, #4 IWMMAR) at UFC 101 in Philadelphia, looking to take a step up into the mainstream as a lightheavyweight, though he earned the respect of most of the fighters with his Ultimate Fight Night decimation of former prospect James Irvin (14-5-0-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

A win over Forrest would put the middleweight champion well in the top ten at lightheavyweight, and showcase something arguably more frightening: that his size has nothing to do with his reign as the greatest middleweight champion (and, unarguably, the most consistent destructive force in UFC history, with a win streak that is unrivaled in the lifetime of the organization).

So, while Henderson looks to work his way back up the ladder and become a middleweight contender again, Anderson is using what may very well be the last fights of his career (he’s said he’s going to retire at the expiration of his UFC contract in 2010) to take a run at the most noteworthy title of Henderson.

Henderson may be the only fighter, in a title bout, to win a single round against Silva. While Travis Lutter (9-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) won a round, it was after a failure to make weight that, in the minds of many, made him pretty impossible to see as a serious contender. Lutter’s cardio was also blown all to hell by the end of that round.

While there is certainly an argument to be made that the fighter to beat Anderson is someone he has not yet fought, it’s worth noting that Henderson is a dominant and powerful middleweight, and has a game very suited to a second bout with Anderson. It may not be possible for him to put out the champ with a punch, but he has the wrestling to help him stay out of trouble in the devastating clinch of Silva, and he has a good enough ground game to potentially present further problems (if he can weather the storm of strikes better than he did in his last bout with the champion).

It seems incredibly unlikely that the two will ever meet at lightheavyweight, but it does seem that one of their competing legacies will include Henderson’s career in and Anderson’s venture into that 205 pound weight class, when Anderson may once again prove that he’s a serious contender, or may receive his first UFC loss (both very distinct possibilities as he steps into the cage against a very game Forrest Griffin).

UFC 101 will present a lot of interesting conversations, and Henderson’s win over Michael Bisping (17-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was impressive enough that it didn’t matter that Bisping was unranked. Whether Henderson supersedes the winner of the UFC 102 bout between Demian Maia (10-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC, #4 IWMMAR) and Nate Marquardt (28-8-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC, #3 IWMMAR) to become top contender is debatable (though support by claims made by Dana White that Bisping would receive a shot if he won). Still, this is a very competitive division and it will be interesting to see who challenges Silva as he looks to make his exit from the UFC’s ever-growing stage.

The #5/#8 in the Independent World MMA Rankings reflect Henderson’s position in the middleweight and lightheavyweight divisions, respectively.