Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson - UFC 82

Wins: 20
Losses: 4

Recent Victories: In Anderson Silva's first fight in the UFC, he destroyed Chris Leben with a flurry of punches. The next time he included knees, and sent Rich Franklin to the canvas with a broken nose. He's had two additional fights since, and won both, and has proven himself as one of the best fighters in the UFC. In a Silva-Henderson fight, we pick Anderson Silva as the likely winner over Dan Henderson.

Fighting Style: Anderson Silva is a tall and lanky fighter from Cuba, who knows how to hit hard, and hit fast, and hit a moving target. Though he has a strong background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, it seems that Muay Thai is the skillset he uses to put on the best show, and send his opponents to the canvas.

The fact that he trains with the Muay Thai Dream Team backs up this assessment, and aids his training at being a very skilled technical striker.


Dan Henderson

Wins: 22
Losses: 6

Recent Victories: In Pride 33 (February, 2007), Dan Henderson beat Wanderlei Silva with a number of punches that landed with accuracy and power. Shortly before that, he was victorious over Vitor Belfort by decision. Coming off these two wins over two highly skilled MMA fighters, it would seem that Dan Henderson was on a role. However, in his UFC fight vs. Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 (September, 2007), Henderson lost. Now, going up against Anderson Silva, Henderson has his work cut out for him.

Fighting Style: Since a young age, Dan Henderson has been a very strong wrestler. Combining that with extensive training and fighting in MMA, makes him a serious threat to anyone he locks up with.


Silva-Henderson Pick

In other words, that Muay Thai clinch that Anderson Silva used so easily on Rich Franklin in their first match up may have the opposite effect with Dan Henderson. If Silva clinches with Henderson, there's a great chance that Dan is going to turn that into a takedown, and Silva may find himself slammed down hard on the mat.

Of course, because Anderson Silva is so skilled at Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Dan Henderson may put himself in a dangerous spot if he uses his wrestling to bring the fight to the ground.

What's Dan going to do?

What's Anderson going to do?

In the end, this fight looks like one that may have a lot of action — and in MMA, fights with a lot of action can go either way, and often end in a sudden knockout or painful submission or ground and pound referree stoppage.

On that note, good luck to both fighters. Silva-Henderson should be a great fight.