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Silva-Henderson huge for mixed martial arts
Tonight's UFC 82 main event in Columbus pits two of the sport's most accomplished fighters.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
COLUMBUS — Perhaps no fight in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship has had so much at stake.
When Anderson Silva meets Dan Henderson in tonight's UFC 82 main event — the finale of a 10-fight card that takes place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus — more than bragging rights are on the line.
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So what exactly is up for grabs? Well, the UFC's 185-pound championship, a unified title, and a possible ranking as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter anywhere in mixed martial arts.
Even UFC president Dana White, a man who's never scheduled a fight he couldn't hype, seems unable to truly communicate the magnitude of tonight's historic five-rounder.
"Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, literally, are two of the best 185-pounders ever in this sport," he said.
And he's right. The resumes speak for themselves.
Silva is the UFC's current middleweight champ. The famed and dangerous Brazilian striker has never really been challenged since signing with the UFC in 2006. He's fought five times for the organization with four knockout victories and one submission win (due to strikes). He destroyed and took the middleweight title from the once-unbeatable Rich Franklin — and then beat him again this past October.
Henderson, meanwhile, is a two-time Olympian who fights only the best.
"I shine when challenged," Henderson said. "Fighting Silva is a true challenge ... but I consider myself the best fighter in the world."
Before the UFC purchased and disbanded PRIDE (its biggest rival) last year, Henderson was the first to win two titles in the organization. He lost his 205-pound belt to a much-bigger Quinton Jackson in a title-unification bout in September, but he hopes to defend the 185-pound belt when it, too, is unified tonight.
While both fighters are world-class, they do it with completely different styles.
Silva is the master of the clinch, a fighter who gets in close, and while standing, wears down his opponents with precision punching and pinpoint knee strikes.
Henderson, meanwhile is the ground-and-pounder, a wrestler who drags his opponents to the ground and dominates them with elbows and punches.
That's what makes the fight so intriguing; it's style vs. style. It's not so much fighter vs. fighter as it is game plan vs. game plan.
As Silva recently said (through an interpreter), it's a battle fans will talk about for years.
"The fight with Dan Henderson will be in the history books, and it's going to set the standard for MMA," he said. "It's going to change both our futures."
