Hendo. At age 43, he could wind up the greatest UFC Fighter to never win a belt. He's held Pride and Strikeforce gold, and when the UFC brought him in for his third run in 2011, despite getting on in years, great things were expected from the man who holds the H-bomb. He could really be on this list twice, seeing how he first appeared at UFC 17 in 1998, winning the middleweight tournament (a non-title affair), then returned in 2007 to face solid competition, losing title unification bouts to Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva before defeating Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin, and Michael Bisping (in highlight reel fashion). However, it's his third run we're really looking at, given his brief original UFC appearance, which was pre-Zuffa era. In 2011, Henderson was brought in with the rest of the Strikeforce pickups, and had just defeated one of the greats by knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in his final Strikeforce appearance. And you know - in his first fight in his third run in 2011, against the legendary Shogun Rua, it looked like Hendo would continue his winning ways, defeating Shogun in what many consider the greatest MMA fight of all time. It was 2011's fight of the year, and it was a war. Hendo was then lined up to fight Jon Jones at UFC 151 - the only UFC event to never take place. With Hendo going down to injury with just a week to go, and Jones refusing to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, the entire event (which featured a spectacularly weak undercard incapable of surviving without the marquee Jones match) was kiboshed. Sonnen would eventually fight Jones, after the two coached opposite one another on the Ultimate Fighter. Hendo, meanwhile, lost his title shot - and his next three fights. A three fight skid is a dangerous place for any fighter to be, but the UFC chose to resign him, fully aware of his name value. A draw is a draw after all. A rematch with Shogun was announced for March 2014, with Shogun coming off a knockout of the night win over James Te-Huna. This time out, Shogun dominated the fight - until Hendo caught him with that legendary right hand. The H-bomb connected, and Rua went down. Despite the win, however, Henderson had taken a beating, and most were surprised when he took a fight just two months later against undefeated title contender Daniel Cormier. Cormier manhandled him, and likely ended any chance Henderson had at picking up a title shot at 205. While he says he's not done, if he wants to make any serious run, he'll have to go back down to middleweight - but even that may be too much for the legend. Hendo, however, will go out on his shield.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
