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Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast by Kyle Thompson

DAN HENDERSON | The American Athlete and MMA Legend (Ep. 536)

Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast by Kyle Thompson

Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast by Kyle Thompson

Religion & Spirituality

4.81.8K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2023

⏱️ 81 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we welcome Dan Henderson to the show. He is a retired MMA fighter who previously fought in the UFC, Pride, and Strikeforce. He was the first fighter in MMA history to be a 2-division champion of a major MMA promotion when he simultaneously held the Pride Middleweight (205 lb) and Welterweight (183 lb) titles. He also was the last Light Heavyweight champion for Strikeforce. He has wins over the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Big Nog, Renzo Gracie, Carlos Newton, and others. He was also a 2-time Olympian, representing the United States as a member of the Greco-Roman wrestling team in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). His fight against MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139 (2011) was inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018. He also just released a memoir entitled Hendo: The American Athlete. In this interview, we discuss what it was like growing up with a tough and athletic father, why he decided to wrestle, when he and his coaches realized he had what it took to become an Olympian, why he started fighting MMA while still chasing his Olympic dream, what it was like fighting in the early days of MMA where you typically had to fight multiple times in one night, when he decided to pursue MMA full time at the age of 30, his legendary fights against Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and Shogun Rua, his legendary knockout of Michael Bisping, his thoughts on God and Jesus, the one fight of his he would leave for humanity, and much more. Let’s get into it…  Episode notes and links HERE. Donate to support our mission of equipping men to push back darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm your host Kyle Thompson. This is Undaunted Life A Man's Podcast.

0:23.4

I'm your host Kyle Thompson.

0:25.0

Let's get into it.

0:27.0

All right guys, we've got a special guest on the podcast today.

0:28.8

He is Dan Henderson, so he is a retired MMA fighter who previously fought in the UFC, Pride and Strike Force.

0:35.0

So he was actually the first fighter guys in MMA history to be a two division champion of a major

0:40.0

MMA promotion while he simultaneously held the Pride Middleweight Championship and

0:44.2

Welterweight Championship belt. So middleweight at the time was 205 and welterweight

0:47.8

was 183 and so he was also the last light heavyweight champion for Strike Force in their history.

0:53.4

So this dude has wins over guys like Fador Millionenko, Vanderle Silva, Shogunhua, V. Tor Belfort,

1:00.0

Rich Franklin, Michael Bisbing, Big Nogg, Henso Gracie, Carlos Newton, and many, many others.

1:05.2

And in addition to that, most people kind of forget

1:07.1

the guy was a two-time Olympian, so he represented the United States

1:10.1

as a member of the Greco-Roman wrestling team in 1992 in Barcelona in 1996 in Atlanta.

1:15.8

So we talk about a whole bunch of stuff in this podcast and one of the things we talk about

1:20.7

is I guess one of the highlights of his career which would be his fight

1:24.4

against Shogun who had UFC 139 that fight was actually inducted into the

1:29.1

UFC's Fight Wing of their Hall of Fame and so that's kind of his highlight and in addition to that

1:35.9

He's got other things he's doing now in business. He's kind of looking to open up a brewery and

1:40.4

restaurant and doing some things he has a gym where he trains fighters.

1:43.8

And he also just released this book here.

1:46.2

It's called Hindu, the American athlete.

...

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